NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather forecasts

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Budget 2025
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
    • Cooking the Books
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • What the Actual
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Snapped: Billboard cameras capture more details than ever

NZ Herald
8 Feb, 2021 04:00 PM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

There are at least two cameras capturing real time data on all Lumo's 25 digital billboards around the country. Photo / Sylvie Whinray

There are at least two cameras capturing real time data on all Lumo's 25 digital billboards around the country. Photo / Sylvie Whinray

State-of-the-art cameras popping up on billboards around the country are tracking the number of times and types of vehicles that pass them in what is believed to be a world first.

The company behind the billboards is adamant the technology complies with privacy rules.

However, civil liberties experts say cameras using automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) to collect data on motorists' vehicles raise privacy issues and may be a step too far.

It comes amid growing concerns about how much private information people are giving away digitally and how it is being used.

This includes what is happening with the vast amount of information being collected by the Government's NZ Covid Tracer app and social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Spotted: Billboard cameras on the corner of Newton and Ponsonby Road collect information about the number and frequency of vehicles passing as well as its make, model and age. Photo  / Sylvie Whinray
Spotted: Billboard cameras on the corner of Newton and Ponsonby Road collect information about the number and frequency of vehicles passing as well as its make, model and age. Photo / Sylvie Whinray

The new LENS cameras launched in September last year, and used on all 25 LUMO billboards around New Zealand to provide marketing insight to media companies and companies using them to flaunt their goods or services.

Most of the sites are in Auckland but there are also two sites in Christchurch and one each in Hamilton, Tauranga and Wellington.

LUMO co-founder and chief executive Phil Clemas said the main reason they started rolling out the LENS technology in September was to measure audience. Like with all media platforms, advertisers wanted to know how many people would see their ads and how often.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Since the company's inception, it had been monitoring real-time traffic volumes but the new technology gave insight into the frequency of the vehicles going past and - paired with data purchased from NZTA - also the model, make and year of manufacture of each vehicle.

"We don't know demographics. We don't capture any private information - we don't go deeper than that."

Discover more

Lifestyle

Tropic alert: Humid days and 'seriously' sticky nights

08 Feb 07:06 PM

While advertisers could make general assumptions that a person who drives a certain car might like a certain product - the main interest in the new data came from the automotive industry.

For example if Mazda wanted to advertise a new car it could work out how many Mazdas drove past each billboard site to better target marketing, he said.

He said LUMO strongly abided by privacy laws and made it clear to clients that it didn't track any individual number plates or collect any private information.

However, NZ Council for Civil Liberties chairman Thomas Beagle had concerns about privacy.

"We think there are some real privacy issues around capturing and storing this information especially where people are just driving into a street."

While the technology could be valid in a private carpark or building to check vehicles were parked in the right place and for the right time, he felt tracking people's movements on public roads was a step too far.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"You can tell where people were at that point at that time. If you've got multiple billboards or cameras around they can start tracking their movements through the city and personally I think that goes a bit too far.

"The ultimate end game of this is someone setting up a system where if they put up enough cameras they can tell where everyone is going at any point and I don't think we want that."

He argued that a number plate could in many cases be private information because it usually linked back to a person.

There are at least two cameras capturing real time data on all Lumo's 25 digital billboards around the country. Photo / Sylvie Whinray
There are at least two cameras capturing real time data on all Lumo's 25 digital billboards around the country. Photo / Sylvie Whinray

Buddle Findlay partner Tony Dellow, who specialises in privacy law, said collecting number plate information would comply with the law unless it linked to identifiable information about an individual - which the company says is not happening.

The grey area was whether there were sufficient safeguards to ensure the collection of information did not identify individuals, or where they had travelled at a particular time.

AA principal adviser Mark Stockdale agreed there wasn't a privacy issue if the company was only collecting vehicle data, but questioned what value there was in having details about which types of cars were going past billboards.

"We would certainly be concerned if they were getting access to owners' details so they could contact them. That would be wrong and providing that it isn't happening then there is no great harm."

Auckland University associate professor in marketing Mike Lee said the main benefit in the technology was providing a solid number of how many cars had passed a billboard in a certain time period.

He said the company didn't necessarily need to know who the person was. It just needed to approximate what income bracket they were in and what demographic drives what kind of vehicle to help target marketing campaigns.

Lee felt there was a limited use for that type of information. But it could assist those selling advertising on the digital billboards, for instance to companies targeting soccer mums if an area had many SUVs.

NZ Council for Civil Liberties chairperson Thomas Beagle said automatic number plate recognition cameras were being rolled out too fast. Photo / Mark Mitchell
NZ Council for Civil Liberties chairperson Thomas Beagle said automatic number plate recognition cameras were being rolled out too fast. Photo / Mark Mitchell

But if advertisers really wanted to target ads to a specific demographic there might be better tools available such as social media, Lee said.

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner said it was unable to comment without more information about the new technology.

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand

The horrifying ordeal behind Auckland's high-profile gang torture case

21 May 09:41 AM
New Zealand

Lotto Powerball: Have you won big in tonight’s $17 million draw?

21 May 08:22 AM
Crime

Inside the Comancheros revenge plot against bodybuilder's family after gang exit stoush

21 May 07:01 AM

The Hire A Hubby hero turning handyman stereotypes on their head

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

The horrifying ordeal behind Auckland's high-profile gang torture case

The horrifying ordeal behind Auckland's high-profile gang torture case

21 May 09:41 AM

The victim was tortured with drills, hot water and a metal pole.

Lotto Powerball: Have you won big in tonight’s $17 million draw?

Lotto Powerball: Have you won big in tonight’s $17 million draw?

21 May 08:22 AM
Inside the Comancheros revenge plot against bodybuilder's family after gang exit stoush

Inside the Comancheros revenge plot against bodybuilder's family after gang exit stoush

21 May 07:01 AM
Racing: No Hastings spring carnival until 2026, Waipukurau revival announced

Racing: No Hastings spring carnival until 2026, Waipukurau revival announced

21 May 07:00 AM
Gold demand soars amid global turmoil
sponsored

Gold demand soars amid global turmoil

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP