How does surveillance camera technology in China create up to 4 billionaires?

Before becoming a billionaire, Dai Lin regularly rode to work at the headquarters of Tiandy Technologies Co., a company specializing in the production of surveillance cameras for the Chinese government. When he opened his company in 1994, surveillance cameras were still something unfamiliar to the people here, but now they are everywhere. China's strict people-management policies are the main reason people like Dai Lin become billionaires.

Now Lin, 54, drives a luxury car, and is willing to pay out of pocket to buy high-end BMWs for his subordinates. His company now thrives, with the biggest customer being the Chinese government. According to Bloomberg, Tiandy was worth up to $ 1.4 billion.

These huge figures show President Xi Jinping's government policies to monitor the 1.4 billion people there. In 2016, there were 176 million surveillance cameras installed on streets in China, compared to 50 million in the US. In 2017, the government spent $ 184 million on defense work. By 2020, the government plans to develop a 24/7 tracking system, along with a citizen scoring system, that can be rewarded depending on each person's behavior.

Not only are specialized monitoring companies like Tiandy helping the government monitor the people, when companies like Alibaba or Ping An Insurance, Tencent Group also have their own 'audiovisual' measures. When we look deeply, we can see that China's people management policy is represented by all the big companies, including pension management and investment development companies around the world.

Proponents of the system say it will foster trust among the people, improve safety and help China become a major power in artificial intelligence technology. On the contrary, there are those who oppose this unreasonable 'grip' plan. One of them is billionaire George Soros, who says that the surveillance system is a governmental way of controlling the bachelor's movement, especially in areas where foreigners live.

Tiandy is also expanding overseas, and many argue that technology from firms like them can help governments in other countries keep a close eye on their citizens. Another concern comes from the United States, when Chinese devices (especially Huawei) are likely to gather information and send it back to their government in Beijing for surveillance purposes.

Ms. Elsa Kania, a member of New American Security Center shared."A lot of companies are applying artificial intelligence to facial recognition, thereby monitoring the people."

Lawmakers of this country are constantly refusing to question. Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying said the allegations were "not worth arguing". Huawei's chairman, Ren Zhengfei, also denied that it joined forces with the Chinese government to conduct reconnaissance campaigns.

Tiandy, the owner of super-large screens located in Tianjin province that displays portraits and names of wrong pedestrians - also declined to comment on Mr. Dai's vast fortune. allegations to their government.

Wuhan Guide Infrared Co., a manufacturer of infrared cameras also used in security monitoring, has a chairman who owns up to 1.3 billion USD, along with Ping An, develops tracking devices. Intelligence for the government also does not want to comment on this issue. Tencent, which has invested huge sums in surveillance start-ups, did not answer reporters' questions. Alibaba's representative, talking about Chinese government servers, said the country uses the information it gathered to increase traffic quality and handle situations, not for any other purpose.

Foreign companies are worried, but people in China seem indifferent. Many older people are used to being 'scrutinized' by cameras, and young people voluntarily post their whole lives on social networks without anyone asking.

Technology proponents who judge people by the point that it will help people become more honest, when the legal system cannot punish all unlawful individuals and businesses. People with high scores will be given priority in buying houses, buying air tickets and getting higher paid jobs.

Human Rights Watch has criticized companies such as iFlyTek Co, a company that develops the voice recognition capabilities of Shenzhen City, and Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc, of Massachusetts, with a collection function. DNA to give to the police of Xinjiang city. The organization has called on investors not to pour money into these companies, which are part of a government 'supervised' chain '.

The American politicians also did not sit still. In August last year, a group of politicians encouraged the White House to take sanctions on two companies, Hikvision and Dahua, two of China's largest surveillance technology development companies. These companies have also been banned from supplying equipment to the US government.

People in the West feel 'deeply concerned' about the Chinese government's surveillance activities. They became even more worried, after the user information leaks of large companies like Facebook and Google.

Hikvision's representative said that "the US government's embargo is baseless, ignoring everything it has done to comply with US laws . " Dahua and iFlytek remained silent after being punished by the US government. Thermo Fisher has said that it will stop providing its DNA analysis service in Xinjiang.

Although these companies may be punished abroad, the domestic market (China) is still attractive enough for them to grow, accompanied by enabling similar startups to flourish. like mushrooms growing after the rain.

The most successful company in this area is Sensetime, a leader in facial recognition technology and has two-fifths of the revenue coming from the Chinese government. The 4-year-old company, which is part of a 'state-owned AI development team', has recently been valued at $ 4.5 billion, becoming one of the world's largest AI companies. When talking about his accomplishments with Bloomberg, Sensetime said that his revenue is largely derived from the development of autonomous vehicles and augmented reality, not surveillance technology.

Well-known companies, which have long helped the Chinese government to monitor and censor content on the Internet, are also heavily involved in controlling the people. Baidu, which has the search engine software of billionaire Robin Li, is working with the government to bring 'smart city' services, which can analyze data collected from security devices. Tencent and Alibaba are also planning to develop similar services.

Tiandy, now with cameras that can shoot high-quality images in dimly lit environments, is a prime example of the development of the country's security surveillance industry. The company is now present in 60 countries around the globe, thanks to Xi Jinping's 'silk road' economic development.

This is a good thing for the company and its founder, who has become a billionaire, but made the security concerns about the world being manipulated by China more serious.

According to Bloomberg