Official Information Act request – autonomous systems, unmanned systems, domestic Defence assistance and public-order safeguards

To the Ministry of Defence, New Zealand Defence Force and Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet,

I request recorded information under the Official Information Act 1982 concerning autonomous systems, unmanned systems, AI-enabled systems and the circumstances in which Defence capability may be used within New Zealand.

1. Autonomous systems programme

Please provide records identifying:

objectives and scope of NZDF’s autonomous-systems research programme;

programme commencement date;

responsible business unit;

programme budget and expenditure to date;

systems acquired, trialled, demonstrated or evaluated;

suppliers and contractors;

autonomous or semi-autonomous aerial systems;

loitering munitions;

AI-enabled targeting, recognition, navigation or decision-support systems;

current planned future acquisitions.

Human control

For each relevant system, please provide policies or technical records identifying:
11. whether it can identify a human, vehicle, object or location without human input;
12. whether it can recommend a target;
13. whether it can select a target;
14. whether it can engage or attack a target;
15. where human authorisation is mandatory;
16. what level of human supervision is required;
17. what technical safeguards prevent unauthorised autonomous engagement.

1. Domestic deployment

Please provide every policy, legal opinion, memorandum or protocol addressing whether any NZDF drone, unmanned aircraft, autonomous system, AI-enabled surveillance system, loitering munition, acoustic technology, sensor system, or biometric/identification technology may be deployed or supplied for use inside New Zealand.

1. Assistance to Police

Please provide records identifying the legal and operational framework under which Police may request Defence assistance involving technology, including:

• who may make a request;
• who approves it;
• whether ministerial approval is required;
• statutory authority relied upon;
• safeguards protecting civilians;
• whether Defence equipment may be used during protests or civil disorder;
• whether Defence surveillance systems may collect information about civilians;
• whether data collected by Defence may be supplied to Police or other agencies.

1. Parliament protest connection

Please provide records from 1 January 2022 to the present containing reference to Parliament protest, Wellington protest, public order, civil disorder, protest management, Parliament security or crowd control where those records also concern drones, autonomous systems, AI, surveillance, intelligence, acoustic systems, unmanned systems or force-protection technology.

1. DPMC and national-security planning

Please provide any DPMC/ODESC records identifying consideration of emerging surveillance technology, autonomous systems, drones, AI-enabled public-safety systems, Defence assistance to Police, or technology capability required for domestic crises or nationwide law-and-order events.

1. Data pathway

For each relevant system capable of collecting information about persons within New Zealand, please identify:

• what information may be collected;
• where it is stored;
• who can access it;
• whether Police can receive it;
• whether intelligence agencies can access it;
• whether contractors can access it;
• whether information is stored or processed overseas;
• retention and deletion rules.

1. Costs and suppliers

Please identify system suppliers, contract values, programme expenditure, licence and maintenance costs, cloud/data-storage costs, consultant and contractor expenditure, and future approved or forecast expenditure.

Please also provide the business case or equivalent record explaining why each major system was considered necessary and what measurable benefit was expected from it.

For each system or programme where a measurable financial benefit, saving, enforcement outcome or revenue pathway has been identified, please provide the relevant calculation or business case and identify where that financial benefit ultimately accrues.

Please distinguish throughout between what a technology is technically capable of doing and what its presently authorised use is.

If requested information is not held, please state that expressly and identify the agency believed to hold it. Please transfer relevant portions under section 14 where appropriate. If information is withheld, please identify the precise statutory withholding ground relied upon for each category withheld.

We are seeking records capable of establishing the chain of authority, technological capability, data pathway, financial pathway and safeguards. We are not asking the agencies merely to describe their policy position.

Regards,

Tracy Lynch
FARQ / We Review the Crown
[email protected]
isayso.net