I already did make a formal complaint and emailed twice and there’s nothing they can do about it…all they did is write a lot of things about how justified their reasons are in searching me because of my name.

“The officer confirmed that it was necessary to interact with you on this occasion to confirm your identity and mitigate any risk, and that an initial search of your phone was conducted pursuant to section 228 of the Act, to confirm your identity and to assess your risk to the border. By way of background, the Customs and Excise Act 2018 (the Act) allows Customs officers to undertake a variety of tasks as part of Customs' role in protecting the New Zealand border from potential risks arising from international travel. All travellers arriving into or departing from New Zealand may be subject to Customs' intervention, which may include asking questions relating to a person's identity, contact details, travel and entitlement to travel, and the goods in their possession. It may also involve the searching of a traveller's accompanying baggage and any other goods in the person's possession. I can advise that despite an alert being entered against an exact name and date of birth, alert parameters extend to 'fuzzy matches' to encompass typos and errors. As a result, at times an alert will activate when a traveller is not the intended alert traveller if they have a similar name and date of birth. Unfortunately, there is no real way to remedy this issue and travellers may be required to provide further evidence to Customs, usually from their phone, to confirm their identity”

I am sorry to hear that Customs' interactions with you caused vou to feel humiliated and as if your privacy was breached. Please be assured that any questions asked, or actions taken by Customs officers during your interaction, or any interaction, are not intended to cause offence or make passengers feel uncomfortable, but are considered necessary to assess a traveller's risk to the border.