[4] In 2022 RNZ sent out over 100 Official Information Act requests in an attempt to map the amount of security cameras throughout the country.
[6] In 2020, the New Zealand Police conducted a trial of the facial recognition software controversial Clearview AI without consulting the privacy commissioner.
[9] The same year, a Pak'nSave store in Tauranga started trialling body cameras due to rising levels of retail crime.
[10] In August 2022, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) said that they would stop purchasing surveillance equipment from Chinese security camera manufacturer, Hikvision, citing human rights violations of the Chinese government.
[14] New Zealand Police, Oranga Tamariki and the Ministry of Social development, who have the cameras, have said that they are not connected to the network and are being phased out.
[15] After The Herald and Newstalk ZB made reports about the concerns of these cameras, Beijing's representatives in New Zealand accused the two of having a "cold-war mentality", accusing "forces" of "deliberately launching a propaganda campaign against China in countries including New Zealand, with the sole purpose of smearing and discrediting China to serve the short-sighted and narrow interests of that certain country, or to put it bluntly, to serve the hegemony of that country"[16] In 2023 the National and Act parties have expressed a desire to have an audit of these cameras on 'sensitive' buildings.
[9] In 2023, the Palmerston North City Council increased their network from 27 to 124 cameras after a rise in vandalism and destructive behaviour.
[23] On 10 October 2023 the Privacy Commission said that the number of requests to include CCTV cameras in school bathrooms had increased, to prevent bullying and vaping.
[24] The Ministry of Social Development have over 3,000 indoor and outdoor cameras, and Waka Kotahi operates over 1,600.