Local governments are adopting federally-banned Chinese tech

State and local governments in nearly every US state have purchased foreign-made tech from Chinese firms currently banned by the federal gov't for posing a threat to national security, per a new report published yesterday by Georgetown University. Overall, at least 1,681 state and local entities across 49 states acquired information and communications technology or services from the firms, which aren’t banned on a state-wide level.

🏛️ Background: Since 2018, federal agencies have been prohibited from buying products from five Chinese companies – Huawei, ZTE, Hikvision, Dahua and Hytera. US agencies are also banned from working with any contractors that use equipment produced by those companies.

But on the state level? Different story.

• Five states have enacted similar measures to the feds, though four of them have loopholes in their regulations, per the Georgetown report.

⏩❌ Driving the bans: US officials fear tech from those firms could serve as conduits for Chinese espionage. All companies based in China are legally required to render assistance to the government whenever asked, which includes providing information on individuals, customers, and companies.

• Companies like Huawei are also able to covertly access and monitor any networks that use their tech, thanks to backdoors designed for use by law enforcement, per the WSJ.

👀 Looking ahead… The FCC is expected to ban all sales of new Huawei and ZTE products in the US later this month on national security grounds. The order would also apply to state and local entities.