In what may be a dangerous step which could compromise data security and privacy, the Aam Aadmy Party (AAP)-led Delhi government has granted a massive tender to the Indian subsidiary of a Chinese firm Hikvision which has been blacklisted by the US government, reports The Economic Times.

The tender in question is for the installation of 1.5 lakh CCTV cameras across the national capital to improve public safety. But the measure may have unintended consequences since Hikvision has previously been accused of creating backdoor access to data of its customers and enabling remote hacking.

Apart from the US ban, the company is currently also facing an investigation in the UK on similar accusations. Chinese telecom and electronics firms often face accusations of compromising data security in other countries as on many occasions, they are closely linked with officials from the Communist Party of China (CPC) and are often subject to interference by Chinese authorities and intelligence agencies.