Security systems installed in homes and workplaces aim to ensure our safety. Yet, it’s alarmingly frequent for devices like cameras, routers, drones, and smart locks to be breached, leading to avenues open for potential spying and security hazards. In many instances, the devices’ users are blissfully unaware of these violations. The most significant concern in this case arises from China.
Countless American residences and commercial institutions depend on electronics and guard systems produced by firms connected to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). These products are generally affordable, readily obtainable, and deeply ingrained in our everyday use. However, the initial savings we make at the counter are paid for in the end when our private information and national infrastructure are jeopardized.
Hikvision and Dahua, two Chinese surveillance behemoths, have been prohibited by the U.S. government, yet their products remain in widespread use across American homes, schools, and civic structures, and can potentially export video information to servers outside the U.S. Simultaneously, DJI drones, favored by both hobbyists and the police, have been cited by the Department of Defense for relaying user information back to China.
Adding to these concerns, Wi-Fi routers manufactured by companies like Huawei and TP-Link have exposed firmware susceptibilities which pave the path for cybercriminals to pilfer data or meddle with connected security systems. These risks extend beyond individual privacy—they constitute a challenge to national security.
China’s ‘military-civil fusion’ policy openly advocates for the cooperation between corporations and the state to seize foreign tech and intelligence. Security systems deployed in key locations such as government offices, energy distribution grids, and defense infrastructure can possibly be manipulated to pry on confidential operations or destabilize important systems.
The threats posed are set to widen in scale as technologies like 5G and the Internet of Things (IoT) become more prevalent. Entities like Huawei, ZTE, and DJI are more than gadget manufacturers—they advance the geopolitical agendas of a regime regarded as hostile.
Exacerbating these threats is the deficiency of proper domestic American data storage. It is concerning that, often unknowingly, Americans house their data in less secure foreign facilities not protected by U.S. regulations. Similar to the advance of Chinese drones, security apparatus, and internet devices, this increase in foreign data storage is primarily cost-driven.
Data centers consume extraordinary amounts of power, and electricity in the U.S. is not particularly cheap. These elements force companies to relocate their data centers to regions with more affordable energy prices. In response to this subtle influx of insecure goods and the risks of overdependence on foreign data storage, the U.S. must react urgently.
The first step involves creating a Privacy Gold Star Certification – a national benchmark to assist consumers and institutions in identifying products adhering to stringent security standards. Products that would earn this mark would use software developed domestically in the U.S., store data on American servers, and not be under foreign influence or management. The use of end-to-end encryption and explicit opt-in stipulations for data sharing would be compulsory.
Secondly, the U.S. government should enforce a ban on foreign-controlled security entities within critical infrastructure. American businesses, educational institutions, and households merit assurance that the mechanisms protecting them aren’t covertly breached.
Thirdly, the U.S. must mandate that all surveillance footage and correlating data be stored within U.S. jurisdiction and controlled by U.S. privacy legislation. It is unacceptable that personal or institutional information stands a chance of landing in the possession of foreign adversaries due to the appeal of cheaper and convenient devices at the point of acquisition.
Lastly, we should harness every available electron’s potential by ramping up energy efficiency and welcoming power generation from any accessible source—be it natural gas, nuclear, wind, solar, or an alternative. Governments should avoid favoritism and allow energy sources to compete, to bring down prices and stimulate building data centers domestically instead of overseas.
Procrastination in this matter has its costs as witnessed before. Companies that were instrumental in establishing China’s surveillance apparatus are now firmly entrenched within our communities. If we fail to mark a distinct border between privacy and overseas interference, we will inevitably bear the costs in diminished liberties, threatened infrastructure, and weakened national defense. To guarantee a secure America, we must negate overseas surveillance within our territories.
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