Police miss deadline to detect and delete unlawful photos once again

RNZ News

7 hours ago

Police lack an overall digital evidence handling system, and, so far, the funding to get one.
Photo:
RNZ / Richard Tindiller
Police have
again missed a deadline
to make certain they are not handling photos of people unlawfully.
They had till the end of June to find a way to detect and delete all unlawfully collected material in their systems.
An
update
showed they told Privacy Commissioner Michael Webster in March they would miss the deadline.
Police were also meant to come up with a failsafe way to not use the photos in any way until they find and delete them all, but had not managed to do that either.
RNZ
in 2020 first exposed
how police for years were wrongly collecting photos and fingerprints from the public, particularly young Māori.
Webster said he was still deciding what to do next.
"Not meeting the final requirements means the police has not complied fully with the notice," he said in a statement.
"The commissioner is currently considering next steps ... including seeking further information to inform those next steps."
Police lack an overall digital evidence handling system, and, so far, the funding to get one.
Police have been approached for comment.
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