IR-01-22-30171
26 October 2022
Mason
M B via
[FYI request #20717 email]
Dear Mason
Request for Information
Thank you for your Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) request dated 30 September 2022,
in which you asked for information regarding Police’s Automatic Number Plate
Recognition (ANPR) cameras and related documentation.
My response to each of your questions can be found below.
In an OIA response from 27 September 2022 (IR-01-22-22232) the Police stated that
10 of their 28 Police owned ANPR cameras are 'static'. It is stated that those 10 static
cameras are now feeding ANPR data into the vGRID database run by SaferCities.
(https://www.documentcloud.org/projects/other-oia-responses-209939/)
However, in the Police manual ANPR chapter released September 2022, it states that
Police "PROPOSES" to identify a suitable plan to retain for "Police owned and
generated [number plate information]" for longer than the previously accepted 48
hours. (https://policepolicy.nz/policies/automatic-number-plate-recognition/u-
vfuqg/automatic-number-plate-recognition-210922.pdf)
1. Please provide all information related to any integration or plan to integrate Police
generated ANPR data onto vGRID. Include emails directed at or from the
emergent tech group. If there is a substantive collection of data, provide a list of
available information and I wil file a follow up request.
The response of 27 September 2022 to the question regarding video processing refers to
Police owned static cameras and the SaferCities platform. Static cameras are purchased
by Police infrequently and are added to the SaferCities platform on a case-by-case basis.
The section of the Police Manual you have referred to above applies to Police owned
mobile ANPR camera units. The number plate information (NPI) gathered by these units
is not uploaded to any third party and is held solely within the Police network. The
consideration in the Police Manual of an increase to retention period of NPI collected from
mobile ANPR units is not related to Police owned static cameras connected to
SaferCities’ network.
As there are no plans to purchase and integrate further static cameras and no plans to
integrate Police mobile NPI into any SaferCities’ platforms, this information does not exist
and your request is refused under section 18(e) of the OIA.
Police National Headquarters 180 Molesworth Street. PO Box 3017, Wellington 6140, New Zealand.
Telephone: 04 474 9499. 04 498 7400. www.police.govt.nz
2. When did the Police migrate their static ANPR cameras onto vGRID?
Police static ANPR cameras are connected to SaferCities vGRID on a case-by-case
basis. There has been no single migration.
3. Please provide all risk assessments, privacy [assessments], or similar, related to
third party ANPR databases. P.s don't send the PIA executive summary from
2017, unless of course, you would like to release the entire document. It would
now be in the public interest to so :)
Regarding your request for Police’s 2017 Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA), I refer you to
my previous responses to IR-01-22-22446 and IR-01-22-22232.
Auror and SaferCities have carried out their own PIAs to satisfy their obligations under
the Privacy Act (2020) by identifying and mitigating any of the potential risks arising from
the col ection, use, or handling of personal information. Police sought an understanding
from these companies as to their treatment of any potential privacy risks, for which they
provided Police with their PIAs. This information must therefore be protected as
disclosure is likely to prejudice their respective commercial positions.
Information regarding any risks to the platforms that Police use is critical to their safe
operation. Information on any risks provided by these companies must therefore be
subject to an ongoing obligation of confidence to ensure that information wil continue to
be proactively provided to Police. The companies’ PIAs are therefore withheld with
reliance on sections 9(2)(b(i ) and 9(2)(ba) of the OIA.
You have the right to ask the Ombudsman to review my decision if you are not satisfied
with the response to your request. Information about how to make a complaint is available
at: www.ombudsman.parliament.nz.
Yours sincerely
Carla Gilmore
Manager Emergent Technology