A policeman dusting a car with fingerprint powder. File picture Photo: RNZ / Alexander Robertson
Police have warned if they do not replace their out-of-date fingerprinting system it could compromise public safety.
Their existing software and hardware are "at end of life and support", and time is short to replace them, as the existing fingerprinting technology contract with big Japanese biometric firm NEC, must be renewed by July.
Papers show police told an information watchdog the risks of not replacing the system could be "quite severe".
"Agencies continue to highlight the risks associated with legacy ICT systems and ageing infrastructure," the government chief information security officer told ministers, in a Treasury report last September.
"These implications can be quite severe, such as noted in the New Zealand Police Automated Fingerprint Identification System replacement, which notes implications of not investing could include delay in criminal investigations and compromised public safety."
Police told RNZ on Tuesday they were working on a preliminary business case to buy a new system.
A tender last year showed police wanted almost 200 "capture devices" to do mobile and fixed live scanning of fingers and palms, including from the roadside, linked to a central search and storage database.
Treasury rated the project a "medium" risk, and put it on a short list late last year for Cabinet to approve a business case being done.
It told police they must develop a "comprehensive risk communication plan" including a clear risk mitigation strategy, as well as consulting the Privacy Commissioner.
They had not done the risk plan yet but had engaged with the commission as "usual", police said.
In previous years, police have not consulted the commissioner on some high-tech projects before going ahead.
Police earlier admitted collecting fingerprints in a "non-compliant" manner, during an inquiry into officers illegally photographing young Māori.
The commissioner told them to stop collecting biometric prints from rangatahi this way.
They stopped in 2022, and police deleted all the prints by the middle of last year, so they could not be used in future, police said.
Police had protested some of the measures ordered by the commissioner would hinder investigations - "balancing investigation requirements with the public's right to privacy", they said in 2022.
They missed the deadline to delete all the photos, because so many thousands are scattered through official and personal systems and on phones. They now had until 1 July this year to delete them all.
In their latest report back to the Privacy Commissioner, in December 2024, police also said a new way of sharing information including photos and prints, was being rolled out, based on Microsoft 365.
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