PILLAR Warns Budget 2026 Funding for Police Biometric Surveillance Raises Serious Privacy Concerns

MEDIA RELEASE | 29 May 2026 | FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PILLAR is warning that Budget 2026's allocation of $77 million in new police spending, Specifically funding for enhanced policing technology and the development of a new Biometric Identification Capability, should prompt serious scrutiny from lawmakers and the public.

The funding announcement comes as Parliament considers the Policing Amendment Bill, legislation that would significantly expand Police powers to collect, retain, and use biometric information from New Zealanders. These developments follow growing concerns around Police collection and handling of personal data, including issues raised in relation to roadside drug testing and the collection of DNA samples without proper consent.

PILLAR recently submitted on the Policing Amendment Bill, arguing that the potential biometric powers require sufficient safeguards, oversight, and protections for individual privacy.

Nathan Seiuli, Executive Director of PILLAR, says New Zealanders should be concerned by the combination of increased surveillance powers and increased funding to support them.

"The Government is investing $77 million in new police spending, including systems capable of identifying individuals and linking them to extensive personal information. Before these powers are expanded, New Zealanders deserve clear answers about what safeguards will be in place to protect their privacy and civil liberties."

Seiuli says the debate is not about whether Police should have effective tools, but whether those tools are subject to meaningful limits and democratic oversight.

“At present, there appears to be insufficient protection against misuse, inadequate oversight, and little assurance that these powers will remain limited to their original purpose."

PILLAR warns that public trust in policing depends on confidence that state powers are exercised proportionately and within clear legal boundaries.

"Liberal democracies rely on trusted police forces that protect both public safety and individual freedom. Trust is strengthened through transparency, accountability, and clear limits on state power. It is weakened when surveillance capabilities expand faster than the safeguards designed to govern them."

PILLAR says the funding announcement should give legislators, policymakers, and members of the Justice Select Committee cause for caution as they continue examining the Policing Amendment Bill.

"Once surveillance infrastructure is built, there is always pressure to expand its use. Parliament must ensure that any new biometric powers are demonstrably necessary, proportionate, and subject to robust independent oversight before they become law."

PILLAR also points to the Government's simultaneous $150 million investment in health-sector cybersecurity as recognition that privacy and data protection are critical public interests.

"The Government has rightly acknowledged that sensitive personal information requires strong protection. That same principle must apply when the State seeks to collect, store, and analyse the biometric information of ordinary New Zealanders."

As government systems become increasingly digitised, PILLAR says concerns about data security, information sharing, and privacy breaches will only become more important.

"New Zealanders should not be asked to pay twice. First through their taxes, and then through the gradual erosion of their freedoms. Public safety and civil liberties are not competing values. A free society requires both."

PILLAR is calling on Parliament to ensure any expansion of biometric surveillance powers is accompanied by clear statutory safeguards, independent oversight mechanisms, transparency requirements, and meaningful protections for privacy rights guaranteed under New Zealand law.

ENDS