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Source: ONE News
Biometric checks will be undertaken as part of a crackdown on "persons of interest" who arrive as new immigrants to New Zealand.
Immigration New Zealand (INZ) has begun fingerprint checks with Australia as part of a biometric programme to strengthen border security and prevent identity fraud.
INZ says the system will help by identifying, early in the immigration process, people with criminal histories or those using false identities.
"Organised crime groups and illegal migrants are increasingly using identity and passport fraud to evade detection," says Arron Baker, INZ's Programme Manager for Identity and Biometrics.
"Biometrics uses technology to improve on traditional checks using names to detect and prevent these people from entering New Zealand. It is a fast, effective and privacy protecting way of quickly facilitating genuine clients while filtering out those who pose risks to New Zealand."
Biometric identification is the confirmation of people's identity by comparing unique physical features such as fingerprints, photographs and eye scans with a previously obtained image.
New Zealand already shares fingerprint details with Australia and will begin sharing information with other countries to form a worldwide database.
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