The growing challenge of retail crime in New Zealand

Retail crime and serious threatening behaviour towards retail workers is increasing across New Zealand. Most incidents are caused by a small group of known, repeat offenders.

Everyone deserves to feel safe when they come to work or go shopping. No one should have to face verbal threats, physical violence, sexual harassment or threat of harm or death.

The numbers behind retail crime

You can read the full NZ Retail’s COMS Retail Crime Report 2024 here.

Why are we using facial recognition technology

To help keep our customers and team members safe and reduce organised retail crime and high-value theft, we’re introducing facial recognition technology (FRT) in our stores to proactively identify repeat offenders.

FRT is now live across all North Island stores, following the rollout in our Hamilton Stores. Timing for our South Island stores will be confirmed following an assessment of the North Island rollout.

Click here for the list of 34 stores using FRT.

How we reached this decision

We have approached this decision carefully so that FRT is introduced responsibly.

We completed a Privacy Impact Assessment to identify risks and shape our safeguards. That assessment, including our proportionality assessment and information on watchlist enrolment, is available here.

We engaged a Māori digital sovereignty expert to ensure our approach aligns with tikanga Māori and Māori data sovereignty principles - see ‘Our engagement with Māori’ below.

We commissioned independent research and conducted interviews with team members, as well as a nationally representative survey of 1,000 New Zealanders. This helped us understand what New Zealanders think about FRT. More than nine in ten people (93%) supported FRT if it improved safety by more than 10%. Fewer than one in ten (7%) opposed it in principle. A summary of that research is available here.

Our initial rollout in our Hamilton stores, Te Rapa and Hamilton South, launched in April 2026.

As we progress through our planned FRT rollout, we will continue our community and customer engagement, and closely monitor incidents of serious harm and high-value theft in our stores.

Our engagement with Māori

We engaged Dr Karaitiana Taiuru, a leading authority on Māori digital sovereignty and tikanga Māori in digital contexts, to advise on our approach throughout the FRT rollout.

His advice directly shaped our safeguards: all personal and biometric information held on the FRT system is stored in New Zealand; our team training covers respectful engagement, including Mataora and Moko Kauae; and we have strong processes for responding respectfully to misidentifications, including a tikanga Māori pathway for anyone who seeks it. Our approach reflects the cultural significance of facial features, including tā moko, and their connection to identity and whakapapa.

Māori community engagement was a continuous part of our Hamilton rollout and continues, with the assistance of Dr Taiuru.

How FRT works

We do not rely on the technology alone. People - not technology - make every decision.

The FRT system is used only to identify enrolled offenders who have committed Serious Harm. It is not used for marketing, customer behaviour tracking, or monitoring team members. Only a small number of trained, authorised team members can access the FRT system, and all system activity is logged and monitored.

Bunnings uses the Imagus FRT system, developed by Vix Vizion, an Australian company.

Our watchlist

Only people who have engaged in Serious Harm will be enrolled as offenders on our watchlist. Enrolments on the watchlist follow a clear, evidence-based decision process.

Serious Harm means violent, threatening, aggressive, and intimidating behaviour, incidents involving weapons, physical and verbal assault, racial and sexual harassment, high-value theft and organised retail crime.

• Who cannot be enrolled? Vulnerable people and anyone under 18 cannot be added to the watchlist. If a child enters a store, their image is scanned briefly, the same as any customer and permanently deleted within 10 seconds. There can be no match, as no child will be enrolled on the watchlist.
• Which stores does the watchlist cover? If Serious Harm occurs in a North Island store, the offender is enrolled across all North Island stores. The same applies to the South Island. This prevents offenders from simply moving to another location.
• How long do people stay on the watchlist? Retention periods range from 6 to 24 months, depending on the incident. Offenders are automatically removed when their retention period expires.
• Do you share the watchlist? Watchlist data is not shared with other retailers. It is shared with the police only when legally required, for example, in response to a warrant or court order.

Store team members can help you contact the right team if you have any questions about the watchlist.

If there is a mistake

We know that misidentification, even with strong safeguards and human oversight, is a possibility. We take that seriously.

If you believe you have been approached incorrectly, please speak with the store leader or contact us at PrivacyNZ@bunnings.co.nz.

When you do, we will treat you with dignity and respect and investigate what happened.

We recognise that misidentification can cause real harm, including to a person’s mana and their whānau. A tikanga Māori-informed process is available for anyone who would prefer their situation handled in a way that reflects these values. If you would like to request this, please let us know.

Your privacy

We take your privacy seriously. We have designed our use of FRT to comply with New Zealand’s Privacy Act 2020 and the Biometric Processing Privacy Code 2025.

We have also kept the Office of the Privacy Commissioner informed throughout our decision-making and planning process.

You can read our current Privacy Policy at https://www.bunnings.co.nz/policies/privacy-policy

Your rights

Access and correction: You have the right to request access to, or correction of, your personal information (including biometric information). Please note that it is not technically possible to extract biometric templates from the FRT system, but we can confirm what personal information we hold about you. Access and correction requests must be submitted in writing to PrivacyNZ@bunnings.co.nz.

Watchlist appeals: If you believe you have been incorrectly added to the watchlist, you can submit a written request for removal to PrivacyNZ@bunnings.co.nz. We will review your request carefully and provide a written response explaining the reasons for our decision.

General queries and complaints: For all other FRT-related queries or complaints, contact us at FRT@bunnings.co.nz. Please include your name and the nature of your request.

Response timeframes: We will respond to access and correction requests within 20 working days. We aim to respond to all other queries and complaints within 30 days. If a request requires additional time, we will let you know.

Escalation: If you are not satisfied with our response, you can contact the independent Office of the Privacy Commissioner at 0800 803 909 or www.privacy.org.nz.

 

Stores with FRT 

All 34 North Island stores where FRT is now in operation. 

Te Rapa (Phase 1) 

Hamilton South (Phase 1) 

Whangārei Warehouse 

Mangawhai SFS 

Waipapa Warehouse 

Northshore Warehouse 

Silverdale Warehouse 

Westgate Warehouse 

Glenfield Warehouse 

New Lynn Warehouse 

Grey Lynn Warehouse 

Mt Roskill Warehouse 

Mt Wellington Warehouse 

Manukau Warehouse 

Botany Warehouse 

Takanini Warehouse 

Whangamatā SFS 

Tokoroa SFS 

Taupō SFS 

Rotorua Warehouse 

Whakatāne Warehouse 

Mt Maunganui Warehouse 

Tauranga Store 

Gisborne Warehouse 

Hastings Central SFS 

New Plymouth (Molesworth St) SFS 

Hāwera SFS 

Whanganui SFS 

Feilding (Eyre St) SFS 

Palmerston North Warehouse 

Wellington Central SFS 

Petone Warehouse 

Lyall Bay Warehouse 

Porirua Warehouse