The Federal Communications Commission has blocked two gadgets from the US market for containing what it calls a "foreign surveillance chip," the first use of a sweeping new power the agency granted itself on October 13 to ban devices containing components from any company on its national-security watchlist.
The FCC did not name the specific gadgets but identified the chip in question as a HiVision Hi3516CV610, a system-on-chip that turns a raw camera sensor into a home security camera or dashcam, often bundled with a Sony sensor and sometimes a lens. HiVision is a subsidiary of Huawei, which has sat on the FCC's Covered List of national security risks since 2021.
Closing a loophole
The agency said HiVision markets the chip as "designed for the surveillance market" with "built-in detection algorithms for human faces" — the basis for its surveillance designation. The new blocking power is designed to close a loophole that let banned companies' components slip into American homes bundled inside gadgets made by other, unlisted manufacturers, similar to earlier FCC moves that let it retroactively ban devices and block modular radio transmitters.
Huawei was among the first companies added to the Covered List, which also includes China Telecom, China Mobile and ZTE, after US officials determined its equipment posed an unacceptable espionage risk. HiVision's processors are inexpensive and widely used by smaller device makers worldwide, making it difficult for consumers to know whether a budget security camera or dashcam on sale through online marketplaces contains the banned part.
The FCC did not respond to a request for comment on which products were affected or how it identified them. Critics have questioned whether the agency's escalating enforcement — including earlier bans on some routers and robotic vacuums — meaningfully improves security or mostly serves as a public show of picking winners and losers among device makers, a debate the latest action is unlikely to settle.