If Police have Facial Recognition software, surely all they need is CCTV footage?

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Wait a bloody minute here.

The Police are admitting to falsifying evidence to gain access to powerful surveillance tools, but have changed the law to make these private security firms hand over to them live feed footage anyway so there is nothing to see here?

Police admit misuse of number plate-reading technology as surveillance powers increase

Police have admitted to a second case of their misusing number plate-reading cameras, at the same time as they have revealed they are expanding the cameras’ use.

They already check the cameras almost a thousand times a day within a surveillance web that has quietly expanded, that provides lots of footage – mostly of New Zealanders going about their lawful business, but also of crime.

Now the private companies are at pains to tell us that they don’t have face recognition software so them handing this live feed over to the Police shouldn’t freak any of us civil liberty activists out…

It did not install cameras, and did not provide live facial recognition (FR) systems or services, or send any FR content to police, though its retail partners might use FR, it said.

SaferCities said it was proud of its “collaboration with law enforcement, local government and other community-focused organisations” to keep people safe.

TDB Recommends NewzEngine.com

The CCTV and ANPR assets were owned and “shared” by the community, not the company, it said, adding it did not provide any FR services.

…but we already know that the NZ Police have Face recognition software, and they don’t need the private companies rot provide them with that if they already have the programs that can scan the live feeds!

Right now, the NZ Police are using mass surveillance facial recognition software from an Orwellian company that illegally sources photos without any sign off from the Privacy Commissioner or their own Police Boss!

The Police then held a ‘stocktake’ of these types of unapproved face recognition software trials and lo and fucking behold the Police quietly admit to a $9million face recognition network they are setting up with zero oversight from the Privacy Commissioner???

Police setting up $9m facial recognition system which can identify people from CCTV feed

Police have been quietly setting up a $9 million facial recognition system that can take a live feed from CCTV cameras and identify people from it.

This would push New Zealand into new territory for tracking citizens.

It will be run by a non-police contractor – US firm Dataworks Plus – and collect 15,000 facial images a year, with that expected to expand up to 10-fold.

Their latest move is to create some fake watchdog panel over mass surveillance powers that no on gave them!

The duplicitous and underhand manner in which the NZ Police have quietly amassed a mass surveillance network alongside their constant abuse of power to get what they want is an incredibly dangerous combination for any State Agency to gain.

The assurances from private companies that CCTV footage won’t have race recognition software on them means nothing if the Police already have it and are simply taking the live feed and running their Face Recognition software on the live feed!

There is an enormous and quiet amassing of power here that TDB has been complaining about for over 2 years now.

Are the Police secretly gaining facial recognition mass surveillance powers without any of the checks and balances such invasive powers?

Because everything looks like it’s ready to implement.

The National Centre of Research Excellence for Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism could expand the number of people the State categorise as a threat and justify real time face recognition mass surveillance.

Because The National Centre of Research Excellence for Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism are staffed by woke warriors, the Left seem obvious to the potential misuse ion these vast powers.

What happens if the appointed woke warriors, after providing political cover to expand vast mass surveillance over white supremacy Nazis get replaced if the Government changes?

Are we sure we know what level of power we are blithely handing over here?

A Police State starts with the promise of security.

 

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3 COMMENTS

  1. Well if Ms Adern can get fired up about the Ukraine and impose the ” strictest possible measures ” then why can’t she act when its obvious the NZ Police have been operating without the correct lawful oversight and acting like we have no privacy legislation on the books.

    The most open transparent government ever is what Ms Adern promised. As my grandmother always used to say ” a still tongue makes for a wise head “.

    • Well I would guess that as National and 1ZB have been boarding on weaponising crime incidents there will be a lot of older types out there saying “if you aren’t doing anything wrong you have nothing to worry about”. Address civil liberties and you will be accused of being somehow soft on crime.

      You are right she should/could say something but I don’t think it will be seen as politically expedient to do so.

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