GCSB castrates Waihopai Spy Base as Andrew Little softens NZ up for mass surveillance State
Waihopai spy domes to be dismantled due to irrelevance
The Waihopai spy domes will be decommissioned and dismantled as they have become “virtually obsolete”, the Government Communications Security Bureau says.
The two radomes at the spy base – which resemble two oversized golf balls among the vineyards of the Waihopai Valley south of Blenheim – have for decades been a focal point of protest against New Zealand’s participation in United States-led conflicts and the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing arrangement.
Minister for the Intelligence Agencies Andrew Little on Wednesday evening said the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) no longer needed the radomes, as they yielded less and less intelligence.
“There’s other forms of signals intelligence gathering that they can do now, online and what have you, that doesn’t necessitate a technology that’s represented in those domes.”
As legendary Anti Spy Base activist Murray Horton points out…
Here’s the key sentence in this news report: “The Waihopai base itself will continue to be used, as will a GCSB base at Tangimoana, in Manawatū”.
Anti-Bases Campaign (ABC) is not surprised that Waihopai’s radomes and satellite interception dishes will be dismantled. They’re 1980s’ technology, dating back to the era of landlines, fax machines and video cassette recorders.
Since the 1980s ABC has consistently called for Waihopai to be closed. Not to be made a more modernised, efficient spy base, using different spying methods, which is what Andrew Little has announced.
So, Waihopai will still be a spy base, albeit without its most conspicuous physical features that stick out like dogs’ balls.
…beyond that though it’s a clever attempt at de-escalating the surveillance State right at a time Andrew Little is promising to announce a vast new upgrade of it.
This is as irresponsible as his criticism of the Medicinal Cannabis Industry when it’s really his policy that is fucking up!
Post Snowden we know mass surveillance is completely open to the NSA and our criticism towards the SIS, Police Intelligence and GCSB was why they didn’t use the existing powers they have to stop the terrorist.
Those positions are completely legitimate and for Little to purposely misrepresent concerns suggests he’s picking for a fight.
Little’s aggressive assertion that he will implement new mass surveillance policy which will outrage critics is concerning.
My guess is that it will be the face recognition softwear Police have secretly been building.
Right now, the NZ Police are using mass surveillance facial recognition software from an Orwellian company that illegally sources photos without any sign off from the Privacy Commissioner or their own Police Boss!
The Police then held a ‘stocktake’ of these types of unapproved face recognition software trials and lo and fucking behold the Police quietly admit to a $9million face recognition network they are setting up with zero oversight from the Privacy Commissioner???
Police setting up $9m facial recognition system which can identify people from CCTV feed
Police have been quietly setting up a $9 million facial recognition system that can take a live feed from CCTV cameras and identify people from it.
This would push New Zealand into new territory for tracking citizens.
It will be run by a non-police contractor – US firm Dataworks Plus – and collect 15,000 facial images a year, with that expected to expand up to 10-fold.
Their latest move is to create some fake watchdog panel over mass surveillance powers that no on gave them!
The duplicitous and underhand manner in which the NZ Police have quietly amassed a mass surveillance network alongside their constant abuse of power to get what they want is an incredibly dangerous combination for any State Agency to gain.
Look at how they are being deceptive by taking over people’s social media…
Police try to assume people’s online identities
Police are trying to assume the online identities of suspects and defendants by taking over their social media and email accounts to gather information.
Defence lawyers concerned about their young and vulnerable clients alerted RNZ to a form the police are using, titled ‘Consent to Assume Online Internet Identity’.
The form asks people to sign away their social media and email accounts, allowing the police to “take control of and use my internet online identities”.
Those signing the document are asked to provide the passwords so that police can access the accounts and use the information stored on them.
“I consent to the use of my online identity and accounts for any purpose relating to an official investigation by the New Zealand Police,” the form says.
Those signing the form “relinquish all present and future claims to the use of these accounts” and are told police will change their passwords so they no longer have access.
The New Zealand Bar Association and the Auckland District Law Society have written to Police Commissioner Andrew Coster, expressing their concern about police trying to assume people’s online identities.
“Given the nature of the form and the concerns it raises, we are hoping for an urgent response,” Queen’s Counsel James Rapley said.
…are we sure we know what level of power we are blithely handing over here?
A Police State starts with the promise of security.
Allowing the domestic police force to gain real time 24/7 live surveillance of the entire population of the country is a wet dream fantasy for the Police State, let’s see how well they’ve tricked Little.
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What is even more frightening is the lack of IT competence in NZ. The Government is setting up a surveillance state, easily manipulated, but no doubt will believe everything their IT tells them! Scary stuff!
IT services in NZ are so compromised by managerial and technical incompetence that we are now in Kafka territory. Great for profits to have bums on seats billing, but not so good for outcomes and truth.
Waikato DHB cyber attack: 4200 people’s personal details disclosed on dark web
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/waikato-dhb-cyber-attack-4200-peoples-personal-details-disclosed-on-dark-web/LCSXDX4W3HTZ4FCISHAL4T32IM/
SSC report slams Treasury over Budget ‘hack’
https://www.reseller.co.nz/article/671425/ssc-report-slams-treasury-over-budget-hack/
Shoddy Treasury website led to Budget hack in 2019, report shows
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/119880737/shoddy-treasury-website-led-to-budget-hack-in-2019-report-shows
Software giant SAP apologises to New Zealand as details of gun buyback data breach unfold
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2019/12/software-giant-sap-apologises-to-new-zealand-as-details-of-gun-buyback-data-breach-unfold.html
New Zealand’s stock exchange halts trading for third day in a row
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/27/new-zealands-exchange-faced-ddos-attacks-this-week.html
Poor IT and an inability to understand poor IT system management, has contributed to the UK’s country’s largest collective miscarriage of justice, case where people were falsely prosecuted and put in prison, committed suicide and ruined.
https://newseu.cgtn.com/news/2021-04-25/Post-Office-scandal-UK-s-largest-miscarriage-of-justice-explained-ZJemJtk40w/index.html
We can’t even do a census or identify identity fraud!
‘We let NZ down’: Stats NZ boss resigns over botched Census
https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/news/politics/statistics-nz-liz-macpherson-boss-resigns-over-botched-census/
Karel Sroubek aka Jan Antolik went back to Czech Republic twice despite fears for life
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/karel-sroubek-aka-jan-antolik-went-back-to-czech-republic-twice-despite-fears-for-life/HZSTF4O3LL73RQ5FJXTVINNNKA/
Even when NZ deports people they just come back with different names.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/auckland-building-boss-charged-with-fraud-after-investigation-into-illegal-labour/GXAPRJOGDSR2LVQDS4ZZ66JRUI/?c_id=3&objectid=12005146
If anybody breaks NZ laws new to NZ, then NZ processes just let them stay here, to continue to victimise others and profit off it.
Even those who threatened to kill others are allowed to stay here, and have 2 armed agents following them, as they knife 7 victims in a mall. A person who may potentially get the right of potential protected person, has more rights and protection than his potential victims. ).
NZ Immigration barristers don’t need to put in tax returns here in a recent case. Even when convicted, no doubt they will appeal and censor all the news with legal action, and wink, wink, get off. I notice the conviction a few months ago, has mysteriously disappeared from the media. The law is so transparent and equal for all. (sarcasm).
Sadly NZ laws protect the woke, entitled and exploiters now, not the victims or the innocent.
NZ seems to be securing the wrong people and something going wrong with their screening methods for the past decade!
Worth Watching.
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/global-insight/global-insight-shrewd-piece-diplomacy
My concern is that social cohesion, means turning a blind eye and suppressing alarming trends in NZ, such as the rise of criminal activity in NZ and fraud, while removing freedom of speech.
These days, many don’t even bother reporting anything. The police and fraud offices seem overrun and probably operating in woke mode, so that only ‘key’ woke words and extensive reporting is allowed rather than prosecution and stopping problems at source.
Neoliberalism has showed how easy it is to push the racism card, to create safety and oxygen for bad behaviour in NZ that increases poverty, decreases educational rigour and qualifications, increases drug and gambling use here, increases tax and labour frauds and essentially creates a culture of enablement and dissatisfaction in NZ.
Is allowing the above part of NZ social cohesion? The poor levels of compliance to NZ laws and growing levels of unequal punishment based on races, says yes.
If NZ wants social cohesion they might need to look at Malta https://www.icij.org/investigations/panama-papers/malta-responsible-for-assassination-of-journalist-daphne-caruana-galizia-inquiry-finds/, because allowing people to buy up citizenship with alarming amounts of money and people profiting from visa frauds growing here and just ignored, says we have a BIG problem.
It’s not about race, we encourage white supremicists as well as Islamic terrorists, billionaires, woke and the poor, part of equal terror opportunities in NZ! We also allow people to come to NZ with little chance of succeeding and ek out a living, with growing amounts of Kiwis doing the same to compete with each other.
This means that there is a ready audience for scams, mental health and non critical thinking. Huge dangers here! Getting ahead here now relies of crime. Gang membership is growing 13% and increasingly we are also allowing foreign gangs to come to NZ and prosper here.
Alarmingly the honest and most educated and experts are excluded from residency here, or they don’t stay long (just like many of the same Kiwis).
Inequality in law, is not democratic. Enablement and suppression of concerns, is not social cohesion. Stupidity and lawlessness is not social cohesion.
Saying that, maybe after watching the ODT videos, the SIS under Andrew Little are more on the right track than expected.