Citizens of India and China are the most closely watched thanks to an incredible number of surveillance cameras set up in the big cities of the two Asian countries. Beijing counts over a million devices, while Indian inhabitants of Chennai are the most closely monitored thanks to over 650 CCTV cameras set up per square kilometer.

Since the first surveillance cameras were installed during the Second World War, their number has continued to grow... even hitting the symbolic milestone of a billion in 2021!

Nine out of the ten cities counting the highest CCTV density per square kilometer are located in India and China. The number one city in terms of surveillance devices is Chennai, with 657 cameras/sq km. London is the only metropolis outside Asia to rank in the Top 10, with 399 CCTV cameras per square kilometer.

Beijing takes the tenth spot for denisty, but claims the highest total number of cameras set up in its territory, with a little over 1.1 million. Paris ranks 12th, with 254 cameras/ sq km on average, ahead of Shanghai, which counts 250 per sq km. It is worth noting that in the US, New York counts the highest number of CCTV cameras with an average of 25 cameras/sq km, ten times less than in Paris.

The top 10 cities in terms of surveillance

1. Chennai (India), 657 cameras/sq km

2. Hyderabad (India), 480

3. Harbin (China), 410

4. London (UK), 399

5. Xiamen (China), 385

6. Chengdu (China), 350

7. Taiyuan (China), 318

8. Delhi (India), 289

9. Kunming (China), 280

10. Beijing (China), 277

The ranking differs when population figures are taken into account. For 1,000 inhabitants, it is the Chinese city of Taiyuan that records the highest number of cameras (119), ahead of the Chinese city of Wuxi (92), followed by London (67). 

This survey , which was conducted by VPN publisher Surfshark and focuses on the world's 150 most populous cities, can be seen at https://surfshark.com/surveillance-cities .

 - AFP Relaxnews