Hong Kong is about to turn into one big surveillance zone. The city, once known for its free spirit and bustling markets, is now taking a sharp turn toward high-tech control. By 2028, Hong Kong plans to install a staggering 60,000 surveillance cameras across the city. That’s right—60,000 eyes in the sky, many of them powered by artificial intelligence. Today there are fewer than 4,000. That’s not an upgrade. That’s a transformation.
Authorities claim the new cameras will help keep the city safe, especially in areas with lots of people and higher crime. But let’s be honest—this is about more than just stopping crime. These cameras will be equipped with facial recognition and other AI tools. They can read license plates, follow people through crowds, and analyze behavior in real time. Police officials have already admitted that suspect tracking will come “naturally” once the system is up and running. That’s not public safety—that’s mass surveillance.
This massive expansion is the largest since Hong Kong’s National Security Law took effect. That law, by the way, was pushed through by Beijing and has already been used to silence dissent, arrest protesters, and shut down media outlets. Now, with tens of thousands of AI-powered cameras, the government will have the ability to watch nearly every move anyone makes. Sound familiar? It should. This is the same kind of surveillance system the Chinese Communist Party uses in mainland China to control its people.
Of course, officials are trying to calm fears. They say that before the facial recognition features can be switched on, they’ll need to pass a privacy test. This “privacy impact assessment” is supposed to prove that the technology is necessary and fair. But let’s not kid ourselves. Once the cameras are up, the pressure to use every tool available—including facial recognition—will be hard to resist. And the laws meant to protect people’s privacy? Those can be changed. Or ignored.
The plan is to add about 20,000 cameras each year, starting now. By the end of 2025, over 3,000 cameras will already be facial-recognition ready. All the footage will be sent to centralized systems that can scan and identify threats instantly. That’s not just surveillance. That’s control.
Hong Kong’s leaders may claim this is about safety, but it’s really about power. When the government can track everyone, all the time, it sends a clear message—step out of line and you will be watched, followed, and punished. Freedom shrinks. Fear grows. And people begin to police themselves just to stay out of trouble.
This should concern everyone who believes in liberty. It’s a warning sign of what happens when governments stop serving the people and start trying to control them. Technology should be used to help us, not to watch us. Cameras should catch criminals, not create a society where everyone is treated like a suspect.
Hong Kong is slipping into the grip of a digital dragnet. And if the free world doesn’t pay attention, this kind of surveillance could spread. We must stand for freedom. We must say no to mass surveillance. Because once the cameras go up, it’s a lot harder to take them down.