Spy
access to NZ used as bargaining tool
The
ability for US intelligence agencies to access internet data was used
as a bargaining tool by a Telecom-owned company trying to keep down
the cost of the undersea cable from New Zealand.
10
August, 2013
Lawyers
acting for Southern Cross Cable quoted a former CIA and NSA director
who urged the Senate to "exploit" access to data for an
intelligence edge.
The
value of intercepted communications to the US was raised during
negotiations last year which could increase internet costs 15 per
cent.
Documents
on the Federal Communications Commission website show the issue was
raised by lawyers acting for "undersea cable operators",
including Southern Cross Cables, half-owned by Telecom and owner of
the 28,900km cable which links New Zealand to the internet.
Lawyers
acting for the cable operators told the FCC there were benefits to
their clients not having to pay for their cables to land on US soil.
The
FCC was told the number of internet connections passing through the
US was dropping.
"There
has long been speculation that US surveillance following
implementation of the Patriot Act could push internet content and
information storage outside the United States-to the detriment of the
United States."
The
legal team footnoted the statement with a 2006 quote from former CIA
director and National Security Agency director General Michael
Hayden, who set up domestic wiretapping and widespread internet
snooping during his terms as an intelligence chief.
He
was quoted as saying: "Because of the nature of global
telecommunications, we are playing with a tremendous home-field
advantage, and we need to exploit that edge.
"We
also need to protect that edge, and we need to protect those who
provide it to us."
In
other documents, Southern Cross Cables raised the possibility of
submarine cables coming to land in Canada or Mexico.
Southern
Cross Cables lawyer Nikki Shone said the company was legally obliged
to co-operate with US laws and it was in relation to those
obligations that "it noted that the FCC's proposed universal
services charges could harm US security interests by encouraging
infrastructure to bypass the United States".
She
said Southern Cross Cable was "wholly unaware of recently
disclosed US surveillance programmes".
A
Telecom spokesman cited the company's contract with residential
customers, which tells them it will pass on their information without
permission if it believes it is legally required to do so or if it is
necessary "to help maintain the law".
Telecom
Users Association chief executive Paul Brislen said revelations about
US interception of internet traffic meant "we have to assume
that all our communications are intercepted".
He
said internet and telecoms companies had to comply with US rules or
be shut out of lucrative contracts.
Mr
Brislen believed the cable from Auckland to Los Angeles was secure
but said intelligence agencies would access information beyond the
landing stations.
Tech
Liberty director Thomas Beagle said any use of American services and
networks exposed data to being captured by the US.
But
shifting to other countries "will just expose you to
surveillance from their national governments".
"It
seems that we now have the choice between taking the time to
understand and implement secure encryption or choosing services based
on which governments we don't mind spying on us."
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