When John Honovich started a modest blog about surveillance tech he hoped to provide consumers with reporting that cut through the dubious claims of marketing. He never expected to end up on the front lines of the US-China cold war. 📷: Makoto Oono
In May and June of 2017, Hikvision lashed out at Honovich in four posts on its own blog. “Does the online blogger devote 100 percent of his time to writing tabloid-style headlines and sensationalist anti-China rhetoric?” asked one post. “Hiding behind a keyboard, the tabloid’s staff takes unfounded potshots at our entire industry, bullying one company at a time. It is cyberbullying, and it is a cyberattack on hard-working people.
After about 15 minutes of grilling, Honovich went to the bathroom to catch a breath. He was surprised to take that much heat in person, but he saw himself as someone who could handle it. As he told me during our meeting in Marine Park, “I get satisfaction out of standing up.” The devices were giving customers a false sense of comfort, the testers concluded, while pulling in hundreds of millions of dollars for their makers.