Auror - legality of
J A Harris made this Official Information request to New Zealand Police
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From: J A Harris
Dear New Zealand Police,
Please provide any documents or materials you have discussing or outlining or opining on the legality of the Auror platform, its use by NZ Police in reporting or receiving reports of crime, its use in prosecutions and evidence, and its impact on privacy.
Please note where you seek to withhold or refuse any information under OIA s17 or s18 using the reasons in s6, I am proactively requesting you to provide the grounds in support of that reason.
That is to say, it is insufficient to state you are withholding for reason that disclosure is, for example, "likely to prejudice the maintenance of the law, including the prevention, investigation, and detection of offences, and the right to a fair trial"; or "would disclose a trade secret"; or "would be likely unreasonably to prejudice the commercial position"; you are required to lay out the grounds that support why the disclosure is likely to do so.
Yours faithfully,
J A Harris
From: Ministerial Services
New Zealand Police
Tēnā koe J A Harris
I acknowledge receipt of your Official Information Act 1982 request below, received by Police on 11 April 2023.
Your reference number is IR-01-23-10863.
You can expect a response to your request on or before 10 May 2023 unless an extension is needed.
Ngā mihi
Catherine
Ministerial Services
Police National Headquarters
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From: Ministerial Services
New Zealand Police
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Tēnā koe J A Harris
Please find attached the response to your Official Information Act
request, received by New Zealand Police on 11 April 2023 .
Please accept our apologies for the delay in providing you with this
response.
Ngā mihi
Dylan
Dylan
Advisor | Ministerial Services | Police National Headquarters
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From: J A Harris
Dear Ministerial Services,
Please provide the grounds supporting/relied upon for the withholding and refusal to disclose.
This is as per my initial request to you, and as provided for under the OIA. I will include a copy of this below:
Until you have provided this, you have not fulfilled your obligations under the OIA and the request has not been responded to in the required manner.
Please ensure justification is provided.
Additionally, can the responder/work group please confirm that this means Police have sought no legal opinion or advice on Auror prior to commencing their use of and involvement with the platform?
Kind regards
J A
Copied:
Please note where you seek to withhold or refuse any information under OIA s17 or s18 using the reasons in s6, I am proactively requesting you to provide the grounds in support of that reason.
That is to say, it is insufficient to state you are withholding for reason that disclosure is, for example, "likely to prejudice the maintenance of the law, including the prevention, investigation, and detection of offences, and the right to a fair trial"; or "would disclose a trade secret"; or "would be likely unreasonably to prejudice the commercial position"; you are required to lay out the grounds that support why the disclosure is likely to do so.
From: Ministerial Services
New Zealand Police
Kia ora
I have forwarded your email to the workgroup that prepared the OIA response and asked that they contact you as soon as possible to respond to the points you raise.
Kind regards, Michelle
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From: Ministerial Services
New Zealand Police
Kia ora
The workgroup have asked that I pass on the following with regards your OIA response query:
In regard to question 1, your request was interpreted to relate to legal opinion for prosecution cases. That response stands. In 2017 Police Legal Services provided scenario based guidance concerning 'find a vehicle' guidelines. The information is withheld pursuant to s9(2)(h) to maintain legal professional privilege.
Police have no further information to provide in relation to questions 2 and 3.
If you are dissatisfied with the original response, and/or this response, you have the right to ask the Ombudsman to review the decision. Information about how to make a complaint is available at www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802 602.
Kind regards, Michelle
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M B left an annotation ()
As a side note, Police confirmed to me in a recent email that these Auror 2022 Guidelines (mostly the same as their 2020 issue) are no longer in use.
They express a clear statutory conflict between tracking warrants and forward facing production orders for the "track a vehicle function" (Live ANPR Alerts). The Police have since confirmed they are only conducting live ANPR alerts via tracking warrants, but it is not clear how many production orders were previously used (likely unlawful).
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To New Zealand Police by J A Harris
Adrian left an annotation ()
Police are in clear violation of the OIA. Where requested, the OIA requires an agency to provide the grounds in support of withholding information.
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