KEY POINTS:
New Zealand is likely to join an FBI-led consortium that plans a global database of personal information to catch criminals and terrorists.
Overseas reports have listed this country as a member of the database project, known as Server in the Sky.
It would enable biometric details and measurements - such as irises, palms and fingerprints - as well as personal information of suspects to be swapped between countries.
But officials say this country is still considering joining the consortium and has no plans at this stage to join the database.
The FBI is said to be keen to urge police forces of allied countries to work together to improve international security.
Such a database could hold details of millions of suspects and one section would feature the world's most wanted criminals.
Last night National Forensic Services Adviser Inspector John Walker said it was likely New Zealand would join the consortium.
That would require a memorandum of understanding with each country, something that had yet to be done.
However, Mr Walker said membership would not mean New Zealand had to participate in all of the concepts the consortium was working on - such as the Server in the Sky which would link policing networks in a global database.
"Your laws dictate what you would share and there's no compulsion by being a member [to join Server in the Sky] but we aren't a member yet anyway." Mr Walker said New Zealand had not had any input into the database at this stage and would not be in a position to know if it wanted to be part of it until more information was available.
"It is only a concept at the moment that the FBI and US have raised. New Zealand police will obviously see some documentation once they start developing it but it's a long way off us deciding if we would be part of it or if our laws would allow us to be part of it."
Mr Walker said one of the main reasons for joining the consortium was the ability to share information around technology systems and standards that were used internationally. Seeing what systems worked and didn't work, especially in areas such as fingerprinting, alleviated the need to reinvent the wheel.
The FBI told Britain's Guardian newspaper that the Server was designed to foster the advanced search and exchange of biometric information on a global scale.
"While it is currently in the concept and design stages, once complete it will provide a technical forum for member nations to submit biometric search requests to other nations," said a spokesman.
"It will maintain a core holding of the world's 'worst of the worst' individuals. Any identifications of these people will be sent as a priority message to the requesting nation."
There will reportedly be three categories of suspects in the database - "internationally recognised terrorists and felons", "major felons and suspected terrorists" and a third group including criminals with international links and subjects of terrorist investigations.
British security agencies have confirmed they are in talks with the FBI over the database.
Britain currently holds a database known as IDENT1 which contains seven million sets of fingerprints and other biometric details which are used by police at the scenes of crimes.
- ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY NZPA
