Facial Recognition risks, opportunities that impact Māori. New Zealand’s Biometrics Code is also featured here.
As facial recognition technology (FRT) is gradually being implemented across New Zealand’s retail landscape, a troubling gap has emerged in how one of the country’s major retailers is handling its rollout and ignoring Māori Data Sovereignty Principles. With only internal notices, Briscoes Group operator of Briscoes Homeware and Rebel Sport has been trialling FRT across … Read more
The past few days we are hearing about AI and recruitment issues with you a young man who faced bias. I am increasingly concerned that the media is not giving Māori any consideration with their AI bias stories, relying on academics for opinions and for them to talk about us like we are not capable … Read more
A new paper I’ve written looks at Foodstuffs South Island’s facial recognition trial in Christchurch and raises serious questions about who bears the risk. The three trial stores sit in suburbs where Māori and Pacific populations are well below the city average. The stores excluded from the trial are in the suburbs with the highest … Read more
A social media wildlife expert called a First Nations version of Steve Irwin drew a large following that The Guardian exposed the account as an AI-generated character. A South African content creator reportedly ran the operation from New Zealand. Indigenous experts have described the account as AI and digital blackface: modern racial impersonation that simulates … Read more
Google AI search that uses Face Detection Technology miss-identified me and two other Māori men by interchanging images and representing the other men as me. Māori Data Sovereignty Principles could have protected us. The other Māori men are: Brian Dickey KC of Waikato-Tainui (Ngāti Maahanga), Kingi Snelgar (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Whakaue, Te Whakatōhea and Ngāi Tahu) … Read more
Aukaha News story of a Māori women Ellen Tamati was woken my her mokopuna today to hear that her image of her face and moko kauae has been used in racist billboards advertising anti Māori wards. A campaign by Hobson’s Pledge. The media clip of the woman is here https://www.facebook.com/share/v/19LKSEc1f8/ Hours later, there was a public … Read more
For many years, I have written about Māori data sovereignty principles and the risks that Māori and other minority communities are confronted with from emerging digital technologies. In particular: deepfakes, cultural appropriation (such as the misuse of moko), voice cloning, and biased facial recognition systems. These technologies raise significant concerns, including identity theft, fake pornography, … Read more
The latest research by the Privacy Commission “Research on Privacy Concerns and Use of Personal Information March 2025” has a significant focus on Māori Data Sovereignty views which is welcomed. There is a concentration on Facial Recognition Technologies (FRT) reinforcing well established facts. The limited AI questions could have been more extensive, and should have … Read more
The AI action figure trend, where users generate personalised or stylised figures using AI tools (like custom avatars, toy-like images, or even physical 3D printed models based on AI renderings) carries several risks, particularly around privacy, ethics, cultural appropriation, and deepfake potential. From a Māori perspective, the AI action figure trend presents serious risks associated … Read more