The New Zealand Government has utilized facial recognition technology within its automated biometric identification system 89 times over the past two-and-a-half years, solely for retrospective searches. The system, upgraded with a $20 million investment, does not employ live facial recognition, following a newly implemented policy that restricts its use to emergencies.
Despite having other systems capable of facial recognition, these are not employed for such purposes. This approach reflects the government’s efforts to balance security with privacy concerns in the digital era.
