Background Back to contents 21 government due to public criticism. The new junta re-enacted it amidst the growing protests in February, along with other legal amendments that corrode individual freedom. CCTV installation in Myanmar’s smart cities is part of a longer legacy of surveillance in Myanmar and sits at the juncture of two overlapping policy initiatives. The first is that of ‘smart city’ initiatives which, as discussed earlier, were conceived as part of NLD’s different regional governments to digitally equip Myanmar’s large cities – Yangon, Mandalay, Naypyidaw, Monywa, and Mawlamyine – with AI technology.26 The second is that of ‘safe city’ plans that focus on CCTV installation in specific civic spaces like residential neighbourhoods in Mandalay and Yangon, as well as citywide CCTV installation in Naypyidaw.27 These include AI and data-based projects, CCTV installation with facial recognition, and vehicle licence plate recognition. Surveillance cameras and CCTV infrastructure form an integral part of both initiatives given their long legacy in Myanmar’s surveillance practices. The companies supplying this technology include Chinese giants like Huawei and also local companies as discussed later in the report. The Myanmar Police Force has also long relied on tracking vehicle licence plate numbers to track down people. Car ownership in Myanmar is a tightly controlled system with elaborate registrations using the owner’s personal information such as name, identification number, and address. There are no data protection or personal privacy protection laws that allow or limit how much the police or ‘authority’ can access the data of a car owner. The government has projected a narrative of vehicle tracking as an effective crime-fighting method since previous junta times. Current CCTVs with number plate recognition can alert the police if an unwanted or suspected car comes into sight. On 1 February 2021, the military rule returned just a few months after the third general election, when the Tatmadaw led by its current head, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, staged a coup d’état, detaining the leader of the NLD party and the President along with other NLD government officials, activists, and the artists, and thus ending a short-lived democratic period in the country.