Information our safety cameras capture

When our spot speed and average speed safety cameras detect speeding, they capture images and information about the speeding vehicle.  

The information they collect includes: 

  • vehicle speed
  • average speed (average speed safety cameras only)
  • date, time, place of the event 
  • digital images of the vehicle and the people inside it* 
  • travel direction 
  • lane 
  • vehicle type 
  • plate number. 

We use the plate number to identify the registered person responsible for the vehicle at the time of the infringement, as recorded in the Motor Vehicle Register.

* Photos may or may not show people inside the vehicle. It depends on things like the camera angle, and travel direction.

How long we keep data

We keep the information our safety cameras capture for up to 7 years, depending on its type:

  • We keep text-based infringement information, infringement notice details, court documents, and bank account details collected for refunds for 7 years. 
  • We keep images and videos of an offending vehicle and its occupants* for 3 years. 
  • We keep camera activation notice details for 4 weeks. 

Who we share data with 

We only share safety camera data in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020, to process infringements or as otherwise required by law. Schedule 4 of the Privacy Act 2020 gives the authority to share certain personal information for the following purposes:  

  • NZ Police, but only to help with: 
    • conducting road policing activities and enforcing the Land Transport Act 1998 (including any regulations made under that Act) 
    • stopping or lessening a serious threat to public health or public safety, or the life or health of an individual, where a motor vehicle is or is likely to be involved 
    • helping to locate vehicles that were involved, or were likely to be involved, in an offence.
  • Ministry of Justice, to process cases before a court. 
  • Legal Services Commissioner, to process court cases, and when determining a grant for legal aid for a criminal matter. 

Information Privacy Principle 11 in section 22 of the Privacy Act 2020 details how personal information may otherwise be shared. 

Schedule 4 of the Privacy Act 2020(external link)

Section 22 of the Privacy Act 2020(external link)

How we keep your information secure 

Our general privacy statement on information storage, security, and accessing and correcting your information also applies to the safety camera system.

General privacy statement 

Our privacy impact assessment describes security controls for the information our safety cameras capture.

Privacy impact assessment [PDF, 1.4 MB]

What happens to data captured during testing

Before cameras become fully operational and detect speeding, they’re tested for some time. Throughout the testing phase, we don’t issue infringement notices and we only store personal information for the time needed to test our processes. We delete any data we’ve captured when the test ends.

We’ve described the purpose and scope of each type of test in our privacy impact assessment.

Privacy impact assessment [PDF, 1.4 MB]

We won’t share the information our safety cameras collect in test mode with any third parties, other than our technology providers.   

Collecting data for research

Safety cameras also collect non-personal information for research and statistical analysis into roading activity. This includes information about vehicle types, counts and speeds, offence counts, and camera performance metrics. The data we collect for this purpose doesn’t identify individuals or include personal information. We keep it for as long as it’s useful for research purposes. 

We release anonymised data sets through our Open Data Portal. 

Waka Kotahi Open Data Portal(external link)

Our privacy impact assessment (PIA) for safety cameras

While our general privacy protections apply to how we use safety cameras, we also have another set of specific privacy protections in place for safety cameras and these are  documented in our PIA. That's because the information we'll collect using safety cameras, and the ways we'll use the informaiton, is new for NZTA and sits outside of our general privacy protections. We consult the Office of the Privacy Commissioner as we develop our privacy protections, and we also consult with our Safety Cameras Māori Advisory Group (Te Rōpū) on data protection considerations. 

As we introduce new types of safety cameras, we’ll review our PIA to make sure it stays accurate.  

Privacy impact assessment: NZ roading network – CCTV, automated compliance and general management systems [PDF, 1.4 MB]

Your payment information

If you use your debit or credit card to pay for an infringement fee, we’ll transfer you to Paymark, our card payment provider. The Paymark privacy policy will apply.  

Paymark Privacy Policy(external link)

If you pay by internet banking, we’ll transfer you to POLi to process your payment, and the POLi privacy policy will apply.  

POLi Privacy Policy(external link)

Refunds

We collect card or bank account details to process a refund. We won’t keep card information, but we will keep bank account details to allow our system to process the refund. We’ll hold the bank account and refund information in our system for 7 years. 

Ask about your information 

Request access to or correction of your information

If you have a complaint about how we handled your personal information, please see our privacy complaints information.  

Privacy complaints