A US request for access to biometric data, as a requirement to waive visas, has raised alarm bells over where Māori DNA might be taken and who would have access to it.
New Zealanders’ biometric data – such as fingerprints and faceprints – is under negotiation with the US government as part of a border requirement to continue participating in its visa waiver programme. The data could be used to verify identification.
Beyond security and privacy issues however, there are cultural considerations for Māori who consider DNA, which include biometric data, as taonga.
New Zealand is one of 42 countries that participate in the programme that allows citizens to visit the US without a visa for up to 90 days. All participating countries have been given the year to negotiate an Enhanced Border Security Partnership with the US Department of Homeland Security that could include handing over personal information to the foreign government.
Rotorua man Te Kawana Tapara said he was alarmed to learn of the negotiations. He felt compelled to launch a petition to include safeguards in the Enhanced Border Security Partnership – calling for it to go through full public and parliamentary scrutiny before anything is signed.
“When I look at the Enhanced Border Security Partnership proposal, I see a flawed design — a structure with no walls to protect the most intimate data of our people. My DNA is my whakapapa; it is not a travel perk to be traded away.”
He said he approached his local MP and Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick with his concerns of jurisdictional risk, Māori data sovereignty, and surveillance overreach.
“[We need to] have localised management guardrails in place so that we actually know what’s happening and where our information is going. But more particularly around having a Māori say around the table because, pretty much, our people will be affected in the long-term.”
For data security conscious citizen Vincent Olsen-Reeder, the closed-door negotiations were troubling.
He was undergoing a process of decoupling from big tech companies due to security and privacy issues, switching to alternative digital services and platforms. The US talks have raised red flags for him.
“This EBSP convo has been caught up in nation security and that worries me for two reasons: We should know about what’s happening with our data and we should be able to – as voters and as citizens – see that conversation.
“The second thing is, why is this so caught up in national security? Why is this so connected to defence? Why is this so connected to things that feel very connected to troops on the ground?”
Māori data is a taonga
Māori data sovereignty expert Dr Karaitiana Taiuru told RNZ there were specific concerns for Māori in relation to DNA, which was considered a taonga.
"For Māori and for many other indigenous peoples, our DNA is sacred to us. It's not just this generation's knowledge, it's our previous generations and our future generations, so it's very sacred," he said.
Sharing police databases raised particular concerns given over-policing, profiling and surveillance Māori were subject to in Aotearoa, he told RNZ.
"We know from reports over decades there has been an institutional racism issue in the past with the New Zealand Police. Automatically, that data is going to be biased, it's going to be racist," he said.
"There's going to be some very sensitive information in those police files. What happens if someone has been proven innocent by the police? Would that data show up if it's shared overseas, for example. What about survivors and victims of abuse? They're entitled to privacy as well.
"Some major questions need to be asked about people's privacy and our own laws."
'Values-led' governance over Māori data
Te Kāhui Raraunga, a data-focused operational arm of the National Iwi Chairs Forum, said Māori data required “culturally grounded models of protection and care”.
In 2020, Te Kāhui Raraunga led a co-design process that included Māori leaders, representatives of Māori organisations with data interests, Māori data experts, and 16 Crown agencies to produce a Māori data governance model. The process was supported by Stats NZ.
“The model is intended to assist all agencies to undertake Māori data governance in a way that is values-led, centred on Māori needs and priorities, and informed by research,” the group said in a statement.
In October 2025, the group added a framework to protect Māori data use in the rising age of AI.
Lead technician Kirikowhai Mikaere urged the government to apply the model and framework to any considerations around collection, storage and use of Māori data.
“This includes biometric data which is the focus of the Enhanced Border Security Partnership,” she said.
“Māori data is a taonga and Māori have authority over our data – regardless of storage location or data processing jurisdiction.
“Māori data requires culturally grounded governance approaches that protect Māori data sovereignty and uphold te Tiriti o Waitangi obligations.”
What does the Foreign Affairs Ministry say to these concerns?
1News sought a response from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade on the considerations taken around the view of Māori data sovereignty, the sacredness, or tapu, of Māori biometric data and the view that it is a taonga.
Additionally, 1News asked about concerns around surveillance over-reach and risks to jurisdictional powers, as well as consideration to the risk of future technological advances – such as AI – creating security issues.
A spokesperson for the ministry said the US periodically reviewed and updated requirements for participation in its visa waiver programme and the Enhanced Border Security Partnership is one such update.
“In our discussions, we are trying to clarify the US request and explain New Zealand’s legislative settings. Once these matters are clarified, officials will provide Ministers with advice on what would be involved,” said the spokesperson.
Waiving rights to our very essence?
For Olsen-Reeder, lack of transparency is a big issue.
“My worry is not so much whether this is tapu or not tapu… it’s that we don’t get that decision-making time, and we don’t get the information to know, and we don’t even get told that it’s happening 'cause it’s happening at the moment, you know what I mean?”
For Tapara, he wanted New Zealand’s sovereignty and Te Tiriti o Waitangi obligations at the centre of what was being agreed to.
“I’d rather everything be localised than just seeing the US can say, ‘Well, OK’, [and create] those types of social profiles for our own people… It’s like, why would we want to give them that type of authority?”
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