"A review of the current and future possible security risks associated with the installation of visual surveillance systems on the government estate has concluded that, in light of the threat to the UK and the increasing capability and connectivity of these systems, additional controls are required," reads a statement from Oliver Dowden, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (the second-most senior minister in cabinet behind the PM).Government departments have also been "advised that no such equipment should be connected to departmental core networks" and told to consider whether they should remove and replace Chinese video cameras "deployed on sensitive sites" – and do so before planned upgrades.The advice does not name companies it feels represent a risk, but politicians have campaigned to ban cameras from partly Chinese state-owned CCTV manufacturers Hikvision and Dahua, on grounds that they have been used as instruments of repression of the Muslim Uighur people in China's Xinjiang province.- 80,000 internet-connected cameras still vulnerable after critical patch offered- Calls for bans on Chinese CCTV makers Hikvision, Dahua expand- Kaspersky, China Telecom, China Mobile named 'threats to US national security'- UK.gov finds billions in cash for big data contractsChina denies it's abused human rights in Xinjiang, and Chinese tech firms consistently assert that while Chinese law technically requires them to do anything Beijing asks – including surveillance – they have no ambitions beyond delivering excellent products to customers.The potential for Chinese equipment to be crippled by faulty software updates or even bricked at Beijing's command is also a concern."