Michael Webster warns about proposed law’s possible chilling effect on civil, political rights
Michael Webster, privacy commissioner, has warned about the impact of the intelligence-gathering powers included in the proposed Policing Amendment Bill on New Zealanders’ privacy rights and about the bill’s possible chilling effect on their civil and political rights.
“As Privacy Commissioner, I have deep concerns about the Bill’s implications, especially for Māori because we’ve seen this all before,” Webster said in a news release from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC),
He acknowledged the importance of collecting information regarding people for police to fulfill their duties to protect the public and deter crime.
However, Webster took issue with the bill’s broad discretion afforded to police, the absence of clear limitations on intelligence gathering, and the potential impacts on civil rights.
He urged New Zealanders to consider how police might utilise the authority to video and record them when they are in public.
“It’s possible this Bill could allow Police to take video of young people hanging out in a park, not because they’re connected to a possible crime, investigation, or public safety reason, but to keep tabs on a group of people because that video ‘might’ be useful one day,” Webster said.
Regarding the proposed legislation’s potential chilling effect, he stressed that it was crucial to ensure that New Zealanders could complain when police collect, use, or share information regarding them in a privacy-intrusive manner.
“This Bill would make that very difficult,” Webster said.
In 2022, the OPC conducted an inquiry with the Independent Police Conduct Authority into police officers’ actions of stopping rangatahi on Wairarapa streets and snapping their photographs “in anticipation” of potential offences in the future.
The inquiry considered this conduct unjustified because the pictures were unnecessary for lawful policing purposes.
The OPC noted that the government had not clarified how the proposed legislation would prevent such situations from recurring.
In the news release, Webster emphasised the need for reasonable limits on the intelligence-gathering powers bestowed by the Policing Amendment Bill.
From a privacy perspective, he suggested that the bill only permit police to gather and retain the people-related information necessary to perform their functions.
“There are real questions about how much information is good policing intelligence to stop crime, and how much could be bulk collection of images of people going about their lawful daily lives,” Webster said in the government’s news release.
He also stressed the need for the OPC or another independent organisation to oversee how police officers handle personal information.
On 18 March 2026, Police Minister Mark Mitchell announced that the Policing Amendment Bill clarified that police could collect and utilise certain information in public places and some private places for lawful policing purposes and functions, including intelligence gathering and crime prevention.
“It’s an important Bill, but the rush to introduce the Bill means it hasn’t had the consultation it needs, especially with the groups it’s likely to most impact,” Webster said. “It needs careful consideration, and we need to take the time to get this right.
