"CCTV cameras will watch over Egyptians in new high-tech capital,"4 Jan 2023

In the New Administrative Capital that is taking shape in the desert, lamp-posts double up as WiFi hotspots, key cards grant access to buildings and more than 6,000 surveillance cameras keep watch…

Some people think such features will make everyday life easier, and safer, but digital rights experts say the potential for surveillance is a threat to basic rights amid a broader crackdown on dissent and free speech...

"Planting surveillance cameras across the city gives authorities an unparalleled ability to police public spaces and crack down on citizens who wish to protest or exercise their right to peaceful assembly," said Marwa Fatafta, a Policy Manager at digital rights group, Access Now...

A spokesman for the government did not respond to a request for comment about such concerns...

The New Administrative Capital is one of about a dozen new smart cities projects in Egypt, and is spread across 700 sq km (270 sq miles). Housing ministries, financial institutions and foreign embassies, its surveillance system is developed by US company, Honeywell...

Honeywell's North Africa president, Khaled Hashem, and Khaled Abbas – Chairman of the Administrative Capital for Urban Development – did not respond to requests for comments.

Honeywell sells mass surveillance systems worldwide, but providing the technology to the Egyptian government is "impossible to defend morally", said Tony Roberts, a digital rights expert and research fellow at London's Institute of Development Studies, citing the country's human rights record.