Security Association chief executive Gary Morrison said photographs were helpful for providing supporting evidence for incidents.
"The security industry more and more frequently uses smart technology to take photos as evidential backup to the reports that they provide," Morrison said.
MORNING REPORT/RNZ
The police in Wairarapa have admitted to illegally taking photos of young people after RNZ alerted them to multiple reports of officers stopping and photographing young Māori on the street. (First published in December 2020)
"So generally within the industry it is quite common practice - and probably increasing."
Security firms should be treating adults and minors differently, he said.