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Auror is designed to help police and retailers fight back against repeat - and often violent - shoplifters. But a recent incident has raised concerns about privacy for everyday Kiwis
When Golriz Ghahraman hit the headlines again this year over a new alleged shoplifting incident, another name popped up with the story: Auror.
The New Zealand-invented retail crime-fighting platform has been around more than a decade but most people had never heard of it until it was linked to the Ghahraman case.
Last month it was revealed that the former Green MP had been shopping at Pak'nSave, putting items into her trolley and her own tote bag in the trolley, when she was approached by security staff before she got to the checkout and asked to empty her bags.
In a statement, police said a shoplifting complaint was under investigation from late 2024, but did not name Ghahraman. A few days later, police said they had decided not to file charges.
But it was also revealed footage of the incident was picked up by police through Auror.
The technology is used by most of the country's major retailers and the police as they battle increasingly violent and damaging crimes in stores and shopping malls, much of it done by organised gangs or individuals, with an estimated $2 million a day stolen from stores.
Auror is designed to assist police and retailers in targeting repeat offenders, using footage from cameras inside a store and licence plate recognition in its carparks.
But the platform's rapid growth and widespread use is raising questions about retailers and police spying on unsuspecting shoppers both outside and inside stores.
"I think some people try and twist it to make it sound sinister that the police are more efficient at their job, but as a community that's what we want," its chief executive and co-founder Phil Thomson tells The Detail, stressing that Auror does not own the cameras or do live video surveillance or live facial recognition.
"There's a lot of misinformation, and people are combining different theories in what we do. Sorry to say but we're not tracking every shopper - we're not tracking any shoppers in fact. It's simply about when a crime occurs in a store, making it easier for that store to report that crime and provide that information to the police."
It is not the first time Auror has faced scrutiny.
RNZ investigative journalist Phil Pennington says the Office of the Privacy Commissioner is still looking into the Ghahraman case, and the police have been doing an assurance review of how they have used Auror since mid-2024.
Pennington has been looking into Auror for years, and covered a landmark court case last year over Auror's automatic number plate recognition technology. The case went in favour of Auror, with judges ruling that it is an efficient and useful tool.
Thomson was a lawyer specialising in privacy, when he came up with the idea for Auror with co-founders James Corbett and Tom Batterbury.
Together they worked on the technology, that would make it easier for retailers to understand what is happening in their stores and enable the police to work more effectively.
The firm is now estimated to be worth $500 million and is sold to police and retailers in Australia, the US, UK and Canada.
"If you're an everyday Kiwi there's absolutely nothing to worry about because it is not tracking your shopping," says Thomson. "If you're a criminal, yes life's getting harder for you because you can't get away with it so easily."
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