4 Jul 2018

NZ spy agency cleared of wrongdoing in new report

2:06 pm on 4 July 2018

A New Zealand report finds no fault in the way the country's Government Communications Security Bureau gathered intelligence, including the collection of satellite communications, in the Pacific between 2009 and 2015.

The report comes out of the inquiry into complaints received from the agency's activities in the Pacific.

The Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB)'s spy base at Waihopai, near Blenheim.

The Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB)'s spy base at Waihopai, near Blenheim. Photo: Supplied

The GCSB's Inspector General of Intelligence, Cheryl Gwyn, said while the activities had been confirmed, there were statutory authorisations in place enabling it to do so and the Bureau had procedures to govern its foreign intelligence activities.

Ms Gwyn said the inquiry found no evidence that the GCSB acted outside the authorisations and statutory prohibitions to any 'significant extent'.

She said there were two inadvertent breaches that were detected and remedied.

Cheryl Gwyn said there was also no evidence that any complainants' private communications were deliberately targeted but concedes it was possible that some were collected, either using methods that inherently involved gathering some non-targeted communications, or if a complainant was communicating with someone who was being targeted.

She said such data was not retained.

Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security Cheryl Gwyn appears before the select committee.

Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security Cheryl Gwyn appears before the select committee. Photo: RNZ / Diego Opatowski

In 2015, documents released by the US whistleblower Edward Snowden showed that the GCSB set up a listening post at the New Zealand embassy in Honiara to tap the phone network and collect emails from named government employees.

Fiji's government also alleged that New Zealand had been listening in on Fiji's military, police and government calls on a particular network.

The then Fiji Defence Minister,Timoci Natuva, said the government would invest in extensive security measures and make its communication networks more secure.

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