Policing Bill a major threat to privacy.

The media is not talking about this, but this is big.   

The Policing Amendment Bill will significantly expand police’s information gathering powers and their ability to take audio, image, and video recordings of Kiwis.

With essentially no real safeguards in place, this bill poses a huge threat to your privacy rights.

In the age of artificial intelligence and facial recognition, the collection and storage of your biometric data by the stateshould raise serious concern.

PILLAR is not the only one sounding the alarm 🚨 This bill stems from issues that have been under public scrutiny for more than four years, from reporters and government agencies alike.

A 2022 joint inquiry by the Independent Police Conduct Authority and the Privacy Commissioner into Police conduct when photographing members of the public (whose recommendations seem to have gone largely ignored!!), said:

“officers are routinely taking photographs when it is not lawful for them to do so…thousands of photographs of members of the public are kept on the mobile devices (mobile phones, tablets etc) of individual officers or, if transferred to the Police computer system, not destroyed after there is no longer a legitimate need for them.”

Oh and by the way… police aren’t exactly sure where they will store the data if this bill gets passed 🤯

This is what the privacy commissioner had to say too:

“The Privacy Commissioner strongly opposes authorising Police to record and keep personal information for an unknown use and has serious concerns about the potential impacts that these changes will have on the privacy of all New Zealanders and by extension their democratic rights and freedoms.” 

Friend, after years of concern, exposure, and legal challenge, instead of reform, the response has been to rewrite the law to justify the very behaviour that was under fire. 

Trust in New Zealand Police is foundational to their long-term effectiveness and legitimacy. Without it, policing simply does not work. Vague and broadly framed legislation that grants sweeping powers risks planting the seeds for future misuse and overreach.

That risk is not theoretical. Misconduct - or even the perception of it - erodes public trust. And once that trust is damaged, it is difficult to rebuild.

At a time when public confidence in Police has already required meaningful restoration, expanding powers without clear limits and safeguards risks taking us backwards.

We’re saying no!

We spoke to media and made our submission to the Justice Select Committee raising our serious concerns. You can read our submission here. 

If you are able, Friend, you should make a submission to the select committee. It may only take 15 minutes. This is a serious issue and we need as many people backing this effort as possible.

We’ll be in Parliament in a few weeks talking to members of parliament about this bill - we look forward to sharing those updates with you.

Thank you for standing with us.