press rank #19 · ~$2,200/mo

Can you live unwatched in New Zealand?

Remote and liberal, but a Five Eyes member.

Share on X

The privacy scorecard

State surveillance4/5
Facial recognition4/5
No national ID4/5
Data-protection law4/5
Encryption4/5
VPN freedom5/5
Democracy5/5
Free expression5/5
Cash still works3/5
Financial privacy3/5
Crypto freedom4/5
Easy to stay2/5
Off-grid living5/5
6 cameras / 1,000 people press rank #19 ~$2,200/mo national average

Childhood vaccines: recommended, never required

Schools must keep an immunisation register, and the register is for outbreaks, not for admission.

If you skip them: Nothing, though an unvaccinated child can be sent home during an outbreak.

Exemptions: Not needed.

Source: Georgetown AMP EID, survey of national legislation, 2024

Legal & financial exposure

Facts about the law, not a privacy score: whether each one helps or hurts depends on what you are trying to do.

Reports your account balances abroad (CRS)

Extradition treaty with the US

No ID required to buy a SIM card

4 of 7 signals are unverified for this country: not shown, rather than guessed.

30 real places in New Zealand

Facial recognition, Bitcoin friendliness and cost vary by city even inside the same country.

Auckland

~$2,200/mo facial recognition unlikely₿ crypto 3/5

Christchurch

~$2,250/mo facial recognition unlikely₿ crypto 3/5

Wellington

~$2,450/mo facial recognition unlikely₿ crypto 3/5

Dunedin

~$2,250/mo facial recognition unlikely₿ crypto 3/5

Napier

~$2,300/mo facial recognition unlikely₿ crypto 3/5

New Plymouth

~$2,300/mo facial recognition unlikely₿ crypto 3/5

Rotorua

~$2,200/mo facial recognition unlikely₿ crypto 3/5

Invercargill

~$1,800/mo facial recognition unlikely₿ crypto 3/5

Whangarei

~$2,250/mo facial recognition unlikely₿ crypto 3/5

Nelson (NZ)

~$2,350/mo facial recognition unlikely₿ crypto 3/5

Gisborne

~$2,200/mo facial recognition unlikely₿ crypto 3/5

Taupo

~$2,300/mo facial recognition unlikely₿ crypto 3/5

Weigh New Zealand against your own threat model

Surveillance, speech, money: filter thousands of real places across every country and see where New Zealand actually ranks.

Browse every place

Not just privacy?

Arcadia matches the same real places against how you actually want to live: weather, cost, healthcare, schools, internet.

Find where to live on Arcadia

Country-level estimates for orientation, not legal advice. Surveillance law changes fast: verify anything you would act on.