(Richard Lee / Facebook)

The Department of Internal Affairs has found itself in a bit of a blunder after a young Asian man submitting a photo for his passport had it rejected due to 'closed eyes'.

Richard Lee is a Kiwi living in Australia a…

AN Asian man’s passport photo was rejected by the New Zealand government after its facial recognition software claimed his “eyes were closed”.

Richard Lee, who is originally from Taiwan, shared a screenshot of the awkward error message on F…

MOVE OVER Prince Philip, your racist remarks about Asian facial expressions are as nothing to the gesture of one Passport checking facial recognition robot.

Richard Lee, 22, was unable to renew his New Zealand passport after the software wh…

A man of Asian descent in New Zealand had his passport application rejected after the software that approves photos claimed his eyes were closed.

Richard Lee, a 22-year-old DJ and student, had his photo turned down by the Department of Inte…

A screenshot of New Zealand man Richard Lee's passport photo rejection notice, supplied to Reuters December 7, 2016. Richard Lee/Handout via REUTERS

SYDNEY (Reuters) - A New Zealand man of Asian descent had his passport photograph rejected …

THE NEW Zealand government was accused of being racist after its passport renewal software failed to recognise an Asian man’s picture.

Richard Lee is from Taiwan but grew up in New Zealand. He has since moved to Australia and he went to ren…

At the very least, Lee had a sense of humor about the situation. Using a Snapchat filter that ever so slightly exaggerated his features, he took another picture in which his eyes were more robot-friendly.

Facial recognition is cool technology, but it’s not perfect. It’s used in many applications and services to provide an easier means of verification, such as Windows Hello using the tech to unlock Windows 10 so users aren’t required to manua…

A New Zealand man of Asian descent had his passport photograph rejected when facial recognition software mistakenly registered his eyes as being closed.

Richard Lee's attempt to renew his passport was blocked after he submitted the picture …

Can software be racist? No, though humans can inadvertently design programs that appear racially insensitive, or, as was the case with Microsoft’s Tay chatbot, intentionally turn an AI into a raging hatemonger. Facial recognition systems oc…

Anyone who's dealt with the complexities of passport photo requirements would probably jump at the chance to have their pics checked online, but automated systems can have their own complications, as a New Zealand man recently learned.

Scre…

Another knock against the robots.

Earlier this week, an Asian New Zealander posted a screenshot to Facebook showing his passport photo being rejected for having closed eyes, even though they are visibly open. Twenty-two-year-old Richard Lee…

DECLINED: The robots did not accept this photograph

Richard Lee, 22, sent a picture to a new online passport photo checker run by the government in New Zealand.

But the automated system told the furious DJ and engineering student his photo …

Image copyright Reuters/Richard Lee

A New Zealander of Asian descent has shrugged off the rejection of a passport application photo by software because of his eyes.

The system sent an error message after deciding Richard Lee's eyes were clo…

No one likes their passport photo. No matter how well you dress up or fix your hair or do your makeup, you’ll always look just a little bit awkward with a poker face, ears out, and facing the camera head-on.

Well one man looked nice enough …

A computer-generated response said the photo of a New Zealander of Asian descent did not meet New Zealand's criteria because the 'eyes are closed'

Published 9:24 AM, December 08, 2016

WELLINGTON, New Zealand – A New Zealander of Asian desce…

A New Zealand man of Asian descent had his passport photo rejected when facial recognition software registered his eyes as being closed.

Richard Lee was trying to renew his passport so he could return to Australia from New Zealand after Chr…

A New Zealand man of Asian descent had his passport photo rejected by a government website when its facial recognition software registered his eyes as being closed.

Richard Lee was trying to renew his passport so he could return to Australi…

(CNN) It's a common annoyance, you're filling out a form online and you get some error.

New Zealander Richard Lee was applying for a passport online when the system objected to the image he uploaded.

"The photo you want to upload does not m…

A Palmerston North woman is alleging she was racially profiled by a health centre worker who said she didn't look like a Kiwi and asked for passport proof of her New Zealand citizenship.

But the health centre says the situation was a misund…

Look at this picture of 22-year-old Richard Lee. Do his eyes look open to you? Of course they do. But that didn’t stop an automated online system from rejecting his passport renewal because, according to the facial recognition software, his…

A New Zealand passport scanner made a ‘racist’ error when it rejected the photo of a man of Asian descent because it thought his eyes were closed.

Richard Lee had his passport renewal blocked when he submitted his photo to an online passpor…