Face Off: Police used facial recognition technology 89 times since 2022

Police say they had at least four other tech systems that could use facial recognition.

Police have used facial recognition technology within one of their main biometric systems 89 times in the past two-and-a-half years.

They first used the automated biometric identification system, or ABIS 2, this way in March 2022 to identify suspects’ images.

In response to the growing use of facial recognition by police in the UK, RNZ asked police here about their use of it.

“Between 21 March 2022 and 3 September 2024, Facial Recognition Technology within the automated biometric identification system has been used 89 times retrospectively. None of these searches have involved ‘live’ searches,” they said in an OIA response.

Police have several million images of people in their databases, not just of suspects but also, for instance, of firearms’ owners. They spent over $20 million to upgrade their ABIS tech five years ago using US firm Dataworks Plus.

Their first-ever facial recognition policy - out last month - forbids live use except in rare situations where there was an immediate risk to life.

The police said they had at least four other tech systems that could use facial recognition, but do not as they are not set up this way. Among these, Cellebrite - which can break the encryption on mobile phones to harvest everything on them - and Briefcam have generated controversy overseas from invasive use by law enforcement.

Officers here also carry iPhone XRs with facial-matching technology, though they say this is just so staff can unlock the phone.