The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security Cheryl Gwyn has agreed to my request to investigate how GCSB is interpreting the phrase “private communication” in the new GCSB Act.
This is a highly significant development because it potentially affects ALL communications of New Zealanders – not just the communications of kiwis who happen to work, live or travel in the Pacific. It is this phrase which is meant to provide protection for New Zealanders against GCSB intercepting their communications. But does it?
What if the GCSB can declare your web browsing, Facebook posts, the content and metadata of your unencrypted emails, texts, chats and phone calls as being not private. In the post-Snowden world, are you like 77% of kiwis in a recent Stuff/Ipsos poll, and Trade Minister Tim Groser who do expect such communications to be intercepted? Tough.- you and Groser may well have lost the so called “protection” against the GCSB :-
· directly intercepting your communications and
· getting access to all the data on you collected by the NSA and other Five Eyes partners
This loophole comes to you courtesy of the changes to the law rammed through Parliament against the advice of the Law Society and Appeal Court judges. And when confronted with evidence of untargeted spying on kiwis John Key’s nauseating response is “everything GCSB does is legal”!
On Tuesday when questioned on this new area of inquiry by the Spy Watchdog John Key resorted to the usual tricky semantics and convenient lapses of memory which are his tiresome trademark :-
“ it had not been raised as a problem with him. “Not as far as I’m really aware. I mean the definition of private communications is something that’s floated around a bit but I can’t recall any particular thing on that matter.”
Oh really! “Not raised as a problem”? “Can’t recall’?. Mr Key the definition was widely criticised by Appeal Court Judge Sir Grant Hammond and other legal experts, in their submissions before the Committee which you chaired! Your own Cabinet report spent pages documenting these problems, and agreed that New Zealander’s communications of both metadata and content, could in some circumstances be intercepted. You agreed with MP Peter Dunne’s request for a review of the definition of “private communication, and issued a press release about it !”
Speaking of Mr Dunne, he seems to have finally realised what many of us saw as self-evident last year – he was duped by Key and meekly gave his support for the GCSB Act. Now, since the Northland by-election Dunne is belatedly talking tough on the up-coming review of the GCSB law. Maybe our environment will be better protected under the RMA and our privacy better protected from the spies ? I am not holding my breath given Dunne’s past record – but dare to dream New Zealand.
Denis Tegg is a Thames lawyer with an interest in state surveillance and the erosion of civil liberties
Well done Denis,
Chalk this up for our right to privacy as the Politicians always demand why shouldn’t we?
What’s good for the goose is good for the gander too?
Hope Solicitor General Cheryl Gwyn understands our human right under the UN charter to equal rights, in her deliberation also!
Great article. I think the public have not really got their heads around the ramification of mass surveillance. The politicians have not got their heads around it either. Most of them don’t understand technology enough to see all the problems and issues and that is before the ethics, humans rights and international reputation comes into play.
Mass surveillance of that level in a society will change it completely and not for the better.
I welcome the enquiry but I am not holding my breath that it will be fair and accurate.
Shocking , isn’t it.
Thank you Denis, Someone in the know needs to keep their eyes on these crooked pollies etc.
I will never forget the Campbell Live interview with John “Sociopath” Key comparing the GCSB with Norton anti virus, together with “ALL the experts are wrong” !!!
Cheers
I look forward to seeing the outcome of the Inspector General’s investigation. I’ve been suspicious for some time about the intelligence agencies constant reference to their actions being legal. Predominantly my concern has been that even if (as is most likely due to legal sophistry) their actions are within the law due to unclear definitions like “private communications”, their actions are still highly unethical.
Hopefully Cheryl Gwynn will have the ability to cut through the layers of obfuscation to challenge this and make her findings known.
People are waking up to what a disgrace we have for a PM. Unfortunately we are going to need more than just some RMA changes and our privacy rights being addressed. We need a massive change in leadership towards folks that are listening to the people and not misrepresenting us and lying about what we may or may not want. This govt. and sad to say some in Labour as well feel that there is a very tiny minority of folks who oppose all these issues we write and talk about like GCSB and deep sea oil drilling and these greedy mega corporations trying to buy our government through TPPA etc.
They are wrong as there are many more of us than they think. They promote dis-information to defend their dirty little secret deals and alliances to further garnish their pockets and to hell with the NZ people and our environment.
“People are waking up to what a disgrace we have for a PM.”
Shit! I hope you are right Blake, there are so many sheeples out there.
Maybe the Government are beaming GWEN tower frequencies at the population now and erasing our minds.
True that these technologies were used against USSR Embassy in Washington during the cold war, and against the US Embassy in Moscow afterwards.
So this technology is real warfare technology that one can easily imagine that corrupt Planet Key may be using as a method of suppression on us all to keep control of us dissenters.
GWEN Towers a single GWEN stations transmits in a 360 circle to a distance of 250 to 300 miles. The entire GWEN system consists of approximately 300 such stations spread across the United States, each with a tower 300-500 feet high. The stations are from 200 to 250 miles apart, so that a signal can go from coast to coast from one station to another.
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2015/04/01/guest-blog-denis-tegg-spy-watchdog-inquiry-is-gcsb-using-loophole-to-spy-on-kiwis/
According to a 1982 Air Force review of biotechnology, ELF has a number of potential military uses, including “dealing with terrorist groups, crowd control, controlling breaches of security at military installations, and antipersonnel techniques in tactical warfare.” The same report states:
“Electromagnetic systems would be used to produce mild to severe physiological disruption or perceptual distortion or disorientation.
They are silent, and counter- measures to them may be difficult to develop.”
Good one Elle,
Here is the link to mind controlling technologies like GWEN Towers used now.
http://educate-yourself.org/dc/gwentowersbybyronweeks.shtml
Well cleangreen looks like we are swamped with evil science.
So much to take in, but everyone needs to educate themselves.Not sure what we can do to protect ourselves and make the world a safe place for future generations though if these sort of things are happening.
What a load of rubbish.
To see Keys following of USA spying and the way they train leaders to lie until people see the lie as truth go to.
Forbidden Knowledge
The future of freedom
NSA whistle blower William Binney
Tradegy and Hope
Obfuscation. Smoke. Mirrors. ‘They’ can watch us – but do we get to watch them? One hopes Cheryl Gwyn will do a good job.
I’d love to feel optimistic about the future in terms of healthy and wholesome application of any surveillance apparatus.
I also don’t want to suffer from naivete.
Democracy under threat too. We don’t even have free speech anymore unless you can afford to go to high court.
http://thestandard.org.nz/planet-key/
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