International spy agencies share information

Chris Hedges in his Death of the Liberal Class points out that Richard Nixon was guilty of many crimes, but it was not until his hubris allowed him to go the extra step and do something that affected the Liberal Establishment that the Watergate crisis caused a national crisis.

It seems to me that this is what is happening here.

Much of this has been around since the Patriot Act of 2001, but it is only now with Geoff Greenwald's articles that this has caught the attention of the mainstream.

I highly recommend, especially New Zealanders, to listen to the two audio clips to get a sense of how New Zealand (and the whole western world) is caught up in this web.

As usual, Key, like Obama is lying through his teeth about this.

Key: No GCSB legal loophole

Prime Minister John Key has categorically denied that the Government Communications Security Bureau has been circumventing New Zealand law by accessing information from an international spying network.

NZ Herald,

11 June, 2013

Mr Key, who is the Minister in charge of the GCSB, told TV3's Firstline the bureau did not get information about New Zealanders through the data harvesting system Prism to get around a ban against spying on its own citizens.

"I can't tell you how the United States gather all of their information, what techniques they use, I just simply don't know. But if the question is do we use the United States or one of our other partners to circumvent New Zealand law then the answer is categorically no,'' he said

"We do exchange - and it's well known - information with our partners. We do do that. How they gather that information and whether they use techniques or systems like Prism I can't comment on that.''

His comments come as it was revealed top secret papers showing internet tycoon Kim Dotcom's details were passed to an international spying network.

This has been cited as proof New Zealand is complicit in a surveillance system based on information sourced from some of the largest internet companies in the world.

Documents show strings of data being fed into a spying system which has links to the Five Eyes network, of which New Zealand's GCSB is a member with Australian, Canadian, UK and US partners.

It is the same information used to match personal detail harvested by the Prism system, revealed in the Guardian newspaper as being set up in 2007 to monitor people outside the US by sifting through massive amounts of data collected from Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and other internet giants. The revelation rocked the US, forcing President Barack Obama to defend the system as a "modest encroachments on privacy", and then the UK, after it emerged its partner in the Five Eyes network had access to the Prism scheme for at least three years.

The revelation comes as the Government attempts to expand the GCSB's spying powers after a review of the bureau found it had potentially repeatedly broken the law - including with the supply of the "metadata" which powers Prism.

Mr Dotcom, who faces extradition to the US on charges of copyright violation, said he believed the GCSB sifted through Prism data with his details prior to the arrest. "It certainly did involve Prism. GCSB relies heavily on US spy technology. The Five Eyes have one brain and it sits in the US."

Papers released in the Dotcom court case support the links to the Five Eyes network but crucially have the name of the intelligence system doing the actual spying deleted. The papers were released after it emerged the GCSB illegally spied on Mr Dotcom in the lead-up to the unlawful raid in which he was arrested.

Documents show analysts tasked with organising the spying marked it as associated with the Five Eyes network. One document, classifying it as "Secret", listed the five member nations and stated: "Please enter into [name of system redacted] and mark as priority." The accompanying list is called "Selectors of Interest" and details a long string of information similar to that used in Prism. It includes cellphone numbers, driver licence details, email addresses, passport numbers, internet protocol and real world addresses.

Another document was headed up "Top Secret" and "rel to NZL/FVEY" (New Zealand/Five Eyes). It referred to "traffic volume from these selectors", showing information was intercepted.

Mr Dotcom said silence from the GCSB was "an ongoing cover-up" which would be "challenged in court".

"We intend to present our own information and expose the real conspiracy." He said the GCSB's spying was "broader and longer" than already known.

Here is an interview on the subject with investigative jouranlist, Nicky Hager

This item which includes an interview with NZ-based security consultant Paul Buchanan Is well worth while to get an understanding of how this might affect New Zealanders. As usual anything said by PM John Key is to be taken with a huge grain of salt.