Focus Morning Bulletin: Facial recognition, Auckland fire and benefit blowouts

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Facial recognition trial

Foodstuffs are trialling biometric technology across the North Island to identify repeat offenders.

The grocery company is implementing facial recognition software for the next six months to see if they can reduce crime incidents in supermarkets.

Everyone who enters the store will have their face scanned and matched up against a record of offenders.

But the Privacy Commissioner will be ‘keeping a close eye’.

Commissioner Michael Webster says he wants to see evidence the technology actually does reduce harmful behaviour, adding faces are a very personal piece of information - and shouldn’t be scanned unless it’s properly justified.

Foodstuffs is trialling biometric technology in stores to identify repeat offenders. Photo / NZME

Waste facility fire

Firefighters have remained at the scene of a large timber fire at a waste facility in Auckland’s Onehunga overnight.

The blaze broke out at the Green Gorilla facility yesterday afternoon - with around 40 firefighters and two helicopters attending.

The company’s CEO Elaine Morgan says no one’s been harmed and their facilities are intact, as the fire was contained to a wood pile outside.

She says they’re unsure how it started, but they’re trawling through CCTV footage with fire investigators to see if they can determine the cause.

Benefit blowout

New modelling shows people are expected to stay on the benefit, and in public housing, for longer.

Projections for the Government show the time it’s expected to take people getting off the Jobseeker payment, has increased by 23 per cent since 2019.

It also found entry rates to the public housing register roughly doubled in the past decade, while exit rates nearly halved.

It’s seen less housing open up for people on the waiting list which is creating a bottleneck.

Fire at the Gorilla Green Waste facility on Victoria Road in Onehunga. Photo / Hayden Woodward

Crackdown on gangs

More on how the Government plans to ban gang patches is a matter of weeks away.

It’s already announced the removal of Section 27 reports which look at why someone’s background may have contributed to their offending.

The crackdown was promised as part of National’s 100-day plan and also includes banning gang gatherings and anti-consorting laws.

Prime Minister Chris Luxon says more will be revealed ahead of the 100-day cut-off on March 8.

‘Bad Blood’ over Swift’s jet

Taylor Swift’s lawyers have threatened legal action against a student who tracks her private jet.

Jack Sweeney uses public data to track take-offs and landings of celebrity planes and posts them to Twitter.

He’s been issued a cease-and-desist to stop sharing Swift’s plane location.

Swift’s lawyers say the information poses an imminent threat to the singer’s safety, with the data giving her numerous stalkers “a roadmap to carry out their plans”.