A Japanese manufacturer of cameras and film equipment. Its subsidiary Briefcam provides video surveillance tools to the Israeli occupation authorities in East Jerusalem.
Canon Inc is a large multinational corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, that was founded in 1937. Canon specializes in the manufacturing of cameras, TV broadcasting and film equipment, projectors, and other image related products. In 2019, the company reported a $33 billion revenue. Canon is dually-traded in the Tokyo stock exchange and the New York stock exchange.
Canon’s subsidiary Briefcam is involved in the surveillance of the occupied Palestinian territories. Briefcam’s Video Synopsis technology allows its users to quickly review and analyze surveillance footage, and has integrated facial recognition capabilities. The Israeli Ministry of Housing and Construction uses Briefcam technology in its surveillance of 98 sites in Palestinian neighborhoods in occupied East Jerusalem, according to Who Profits. Canon acquired BriefCam, an Israeli video analytics company, in 2018.
Briefcam technology is also used by many police departments across the United States for surveillance purposes, such as identifying individuals and monitoring mass protests. At least eighteen U.S. law enforcement agencies use Briefcam technology, including the police departments of New Orleans, Chicago, Washington D.C., Boston, Los Angeles, and Denver. Some of these agencies use Briefcam’s Protect and Insights product, a video analytics platform that features facial and license plate recognition. Police departments use it to create “watch lists” of people and cars to filter through hours of video surveillance.