‘Invasive’ AI-led mass surveillance in Africa violating freedoms, warn experts | Global development
The rapid spread of AI-powered mass surveillance systems across Africa violates citizens’ privacy rights and has a chilling effect on society, according to human rights and emerging technologies experts.
According to the report, 11 African governments have spent at least $2bn (£1.5bn) on Chinese-made surveillance technology that recognizes faces and tracks movements. a new report It has been warned by the Institute of Development Studies that national security is being used to justify the implementation of these systems with little regulation.
Chinese companies often sell the technology in packages that include CCTV systems, facial recognition, biometric data collection and cameras that track vehicle movements, and is pitched as a tool to help rapidly urbanizing countries modernize their cities and reduce crime.
But researchers from the African Digital Rights Network, which co-authored the report, said there was no real evidence that these systems reduce crime and warned that they allow governments to monitor human rights activists and political opponents, arrest protesters and drive journalists to self-censor.
Wairagala Wakabi, managing director of Kampala-based policy organization Cipesa and co-author of the report, said: “This large-scale and invasive AI-powered surveillance of public spaces is not ‘lawful, necessary or proportionate’ for the legitimate purpose of ensuring security. History tells us that this is the latest tool used by governments to invade citizens’ privacy and suppress freedom of movement and expression.”
Nigeria spent the most on infrastructure, investing $470 million on 10,000 smart cameras until last year. Egypt has installed 6,000, while Algeria and Uganda each have about 5,000.
An average of $240 million was spent by 11 countries on the investment, which was mostly financed by loans from Chinese banks.
The report highlights that the lack of regulation or legal framework around the storage and use of data on individuals is concerning given the rapid proliferation of this technology, but Bulelani Jili, an assistant professor at Georgetown University, said even introducing laws could be dangerous.
Surveillance of online activities has often been used to thwart dissent and has been legalized by laws that can criminalize ordinary people for their online posts. Jili said focusing on law enforcement could allow governments to argue that systems are legitimized.
“So the challenge is not just whether surveillance is regulated, but how societies negotiate the balance between security, accountability, and civil liberties once these technologies become deeply institutionalized,” he said.
He said there were already concerns about the use of facial recognition. We monitor activists in Uganda and surveillance systems are used Intervention in protests led by Generation Z in Kenya.
He warned that this could pose a danger to anyone deemed a threat to governments in the future.
“Historically marginalized communities, political activists, journalists, and minority groups may be disproportionately impacted when these technologies are incorporated into policing and intelligence practices,” Jili said.
Yosr Jouini, who wrote the report’s section on Algeria, said the systems were initially promoted in connection with “smart city” projects promising to fight crime and manage traffic, but in reality they have mostly become a tool of security forces.
“The narrative is simply framed through a security lens that ignores other concerns and fails to provide adequate mechanisms to ensure citizens’ rights are protected,” he said.
He highlighted how street protests in 2019 and 2021 played an important role in political change, but that the expansion of surveillance systems could make people hesitant to protest in the future.
“We know that a large number of protesters have been arrested while attending public gatherings. We don’t know for sure whether this is on camera or not, but it has a chilling effect on people’s willingness to attend public gatherings – because it can happen.”
