No ISC West for Hikvision, Dahua in wake of ethics violations
The Security Industry Association will not allow surveillance camera and facial recognition providers Dahua and Hikvision exhibit at the upcoming ISC West 2023 or any of its other events.
SIA confirmed their exclusion in a statement provided to security camera trade publication IPVM. The non-members will also not be allowed to exhibit at any other event sponsored by the trade group.
The group cites the Ethics Principles it published in 2020 for biometrics providers and other security industry members, which specifically require members to not “support the infliction of human rights abuses, the restriction of civil liberties and/or the implementation of other oppressive measures.”
This principle led the SIA to boot Dahua from its ranks in 2021 for participating in the human rights abuses documented in Xinjiang, China. A month later, Hikvision resigned its membership in the group.
“SIA reviews conformance of members to the Ethics Principles as the result of a complaint filed by a SIA member or in a case that has been self-initiated by the SIA Executive Committee,” says SIA CEO Don Erickson, when asked in an email by Biometric Update under what conditions reviews are performed. “In the latter scenarios, an ethics case involving a SIA member may be initiated as the result of news reports or actions taken by a government agency. Any SIA member, regardless of their exhibitor status at SIA-operated events, is subject to the Member Code of Ethics. SIA considers the policy to be a good-faith commitment by a member that they conform with the principles as a condition of membership.”
Erickson says that the organization is not concerned about being perceived as political, and is committed to following its policies.
“Any action taken by SIA in any ethics matter will be based on thorough research, known facts, consideration of the perspective provided to SIA by the accused member and SIA’s formal assessment criteria defined by the elements of intent, knowledge and substantiality,” he says.
IPVM notes that Hikvision exhibited at GSX 2022 last September in Atlanta, Georgia, despite the company being banned from working with the U.S. government back in 2020 through the NDAA.
The impact of being barred from the event is difficult to predict, but ISCS West is the largest annual physical security event in North America, IPVM points out. The publication also notes that Hikvision cameras will likely be at event booths operated by partners.
ISC West 2023 will be held March 28 to 30 in Las Vegas. Early bird registration ends tonight.
