Balanced News: Facial recognition: Government rolls out new tech despite racial bias concerns

The New Zealand government is set to roll out new facial recognition technology despite concerns about racial bias. The technology, developed by the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA), has not been tested for bias on New Zealand’s specific population mix. The Ministry of Social Development (MSD) will be the first to use the technology, called Identity Check, but a recent MSD report acknowledges the “unknown” level of racial bias and the potential impact on Māori and Pasifika clients. DIA claims the technology is 90% accurate, but US tests suggest it works less well on people with darker skin tones.