Mass surveillance in New Zealand

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There is an estimated 400,000 privately owned and 10,000 publicly owned security cameras in New Zealand.[1] They are primarily used for security, but are also used for monitoring traffic, weather, dumping, and parking, among others. Taxpayers pay approximately $5.4 million per year on the running costs of security cameras, and for the five years prior to 2022, spent $29.8 million on installation costs. At least three councils use facial recognition.[2] The police have access to over 5,000 cameras owned by businesses, councils and government agencies, which can be accessed by 4,000 police officers on their smartphones.[3] The New Zealand Security Intelligence Service is responsible for human intelligence collection in New Zealand.[4]

In 2022 RNZ sent out over 100 Official Information Act requests in an attempt to map the amount of security cameras throughout the country. CCTV cameras have been criticised following research suggesting that they do not lower rates of crime.[2] There is also use of artificial intelligence within the CCTV networks of New Zealand.[5]

  1. ^ Brettkelly, Sharon (28 April 2022). "The cameras watching over us". RNZ. Archived from the original on 27 May 2022. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  2. ^ a b Hancock, Farah (11 April 2022). "The streets have eyes". RNZ. Archived from the original on 30 December 2022. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  3. ^ Pennington, Phill (23 September 2022). "Police step up surveillance activity, tap into CCTV footage from other businesses". RNZ. Archived from the original on 9 December 2022. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  4. ^ Herald, David Fisher, NZ. "Big Read: The state of mass surveillance in NZ". ZB. Retrieved 29 August 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ "AI used across 'multiple departments' in camera surveillance". RNZ. 21 May 2023. Archived from the original on 7 June 2023. Retrieved 26 August 2023.