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Made Abroad, Deployed at Home

August 2021 Access Now
#Biometrics #Privacy #Digital identity

Abstract

Access Now, the Laboratory of Public Policy and Internet (LAPIN), Asociación por los Derechos Civiles (ADC), and LaLibre.net (Tecnologías Comunitarias) are illuminating the shadowy mass surveillance industry in Latin America. The new report, Surveillance Tech In Latin America: Made Abroad, Deployed at Home, unpacks the growing biometric surveillance infrastructure in Argentina, Brazil, and Ecuador, unmasks the companies behind these dangerous products, and exposes the government policies and practices that are undermining people’s rights.

Based on public information requests, public databases, and interviews, key findings on mass surveillance in Latin America include:

  • Companies such as AnyVision, Hikvision, Dahua, Cellebrite, Huawei, ZTE, NEC, IDEMIA, and Verint, are flying under the radar, selling surveillance tools across the region without transparency or public scrutiny;
  • Under the guise of “free” technology for governments, some companies are testing their surveillance systems on thousands of unknowing people across Latin America;
  • In Argentina, a massive biometric database called SIBIOS has become the infrastructure for many other surveillance technologies, from surveillance balloons in Buenos Aires, to thermal cameras in airports;
  • In Brazil, both the public and private sectors are using surveillance technologies, citing reasons like public safety, fraud detection, and tracking school attendance; and
  • In Ecuador, a nationwide law enforcement surveillance infrastructure (ECU911), now with more than 6,600 cameras, was being used to spy on political adversaries and citizens.