AIA-2026-0005Courts and legalVerified

Google’s AI summaries breached New Zealand court name suppression orders

Google’s AI-generated search summaries were found to be naming people protected by New Zealand court suppression orders, surfacing identities that publication bans exist specifically to protect. Suppression breaches are a criminal offence in New Zealand, and the case exposed the gap between automated summary generation and local legal obligations.

Severity 4 of 5: Serious. Rated "Systemic" on the AI Safety Aotearoa tracker. How we rate severity

Date it happened: 17 February 2025
Added to the register: 17 February 2025
Region: Online or nationwide
Type of AI involved: AI search summaries
Kind of harm: Privacy breach
Last updated: 29 October 2026

What happened

Google's AI-generated search summaries were found to be naming people protected by New Zealand court suppression orders, surfacing identities that publication bans exist specifically to protect. Suppression breaches are a criminal offence in New Zealand, and the case exposed the gap between automated summary generation and local legal obligations.

Sources

Google's AI has been breaching New Zealand court name suppressions
RNZ, February 2025

Change history

29 Oct 2026 Moved from the AI Safety Aotearoa incident tracker.

Cite this entry

AI Incidents Aotearoa. (2025). Google’s AI summaries breached New Zealand court name suppression orders (AIA-2026-0005). AI Safety Aotearoa. Retrieved 29 October 2026, from https://aiincidents.nz/register/googles-ai-summaries-breached-new-zealand-court-name-suppression-orders/

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