Police amendment bill privacy risks w/ University of Auckland Professor of commercial law Gehen Gunasekara: 18th May, 2026

Public submissions for the policing amendment bill are currently being made, and several privacy concerns have been raised. 

The bill is split into two parts, with the first focusing on intelligence gathering and the second giving police new powers to declare a wider range of public areas off limits earlier. 

The impact of the first part on privacy rights in particular has been up for debate, as new changes would allow police to take photos and record in public with a much lower bar of justification and are not required to provide a right to access or deletion. 

Originally, police were forced by the courts to stop taking photos unless they were directly related to a case, after it was revealed in 2020 that they had been taking photos of TENS of THOUSANDS of people not suspected of any crime, the majority of whom were Māori youth.

To discuss the policing amendment bill and its potential privacy impacts, host Thomas talked to University of Auckland Professor of commercial law Gehen Gunasekara.