Hong Kong police eyes adding facial recognition to CCTV cameras this year as part of HK$4 billion expansion plan

2026-02-15 - 23:39

Hong Kong police are eyeing the addition of facial recognition features to closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras across the city this year as part of a HK$4 billion plan to expand the surveillance network. A CCTV camera in Mong Kok. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. Joe Chow, the commissioner of police, said on TVB on Sunday that authorities plan to incorporate facial recognition functions to CCTV cameras managed by the police “within this year.” Chow said the government is currently working on a legal framework related to facial recognition. The move is part of the authorities’ plan to expand an existing surveillance system, which will cost over HK$4 billion from taxpayers. Chow said that as part of the expansion, the number of CCTV cameras under the police’s SmartView initiative will increase to 66,500 by 2031. The number will reflect new cameras as well as those currently managed by other government departments that will be connected to the police’s system. According to a paper the Security Bureau submitted to the Legislative Council, authorities have installed around 5,000 new surveillance cameras and connected around 6,000 cameras from other departments to the police’s system under the first phase of SmartView. SmartView is a government initiative to install CCTV cameras in Hong Kong’s “public places with high crime rate and pedestrian flow,” according to the LegCo paper. From 2026 to 2028, as part of SmartView’s second phase, the government plans to add 20,000 surveillance cameras per year, including setting up new ones and connecting the cameras of other departments to the police’s network. Hong Kong Police Commissioner Joe Chow on December 3, 2025. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. Authorities aim to add 6,500 surveillance cameras from 2028 to 2031 as part of SmartView’s third phase. The Security Bureaus said the expansion is needed for preventing crime, enhancing effectiveness in crime detection and managing public events effectively. Apart from collaborating with other government departments, the police also hopes to connect CCTV cameras run by commercial organisations to the police’s network. Chow said on TVB on Sunday that some shopping malls had “given positive responses” regarding the incorporation of their CCTV cameras to the SmartView programme. Over HK$4 billion from taxpayers According to the LegCO paper, the Security Bureau plans to propose a spending of HK$4.07 billion to expand the SmartView system. The proposed budget will cover hardware, software, communication networks, implementation services as well as the employment of contract staff. Separately, the bureau estimated that as the system expands, the maintenance costs for the system will increase each year, rising from nearly HK$73 million in the next fiscal year to over HK$100 million annually from 2031 to 2036. After 2036, the annual expenditure of the SmartView programme is expected to exceed HK$240 million.