The NZ Government has put out a press release documenting amendments to its new spying bill. These were agreed to as a result of consultation with the government's minority party (ACT) and with Peter Dunne (Independent). The Bill now has enough votes to pass the House. The Prime Minister has said that he still prefers a wider political consensus, and is continuing talks with the NZ First party.
Have the amendments made a difference? We believe so. In fact, we are heaving a sigh of relief. Here they are:
The changes that will be made to the Bill include:We are pleased to see that the Government Communications and Security Bureau will serve only the Police, the Intelligence Service, and the NZ Defence Force. We like the idea of an independent review. We like the beefing up of oversight (both in personnel and activity) by the Inspector General. It is very good that whenever a warrant is issued, the Inspectorate has to be informed. We are also pleased that "meta data" looks like it will be defined to be part of "private communication" which prevents the authorities exploiting a technical loophole as has happened in the United States. According to Audrey Young, NZ Herald columnist,
In addition to these changes previously signalled, the Prime Minister has agreed to the following changes with Mr Dunne, which will be made through a Supplementary Order Paper in the House:
- A set of guiding principles will be added, in line with requests from Mr Banks and Mr Dunne.
- The Inspector General will be supported by a two-person advisory panel.
- The removal of the proposed Order in Council mechanism which would have allowed other agencies to be added to the list of agencies able to request assistance from the GCSB. Any additions beyond the Police, NZSIS and NZ Defence Force will now be required to be made by a specific amendment to the legislation.
- To ensure effective oversight in the issuing of a warrant, the Bill will be amended so the Inspector General is informed when a warrant is put on the register relating to a New Zealander.
- The GCSB will be required to report annually on the total number of instances where it has provided assistance to the Police, NZSIS or NZ Defence Force.
- The GCSB will also be required to report annually on the number of warrants and authorisations issued.
- The Intelligence and Security Committee will hold public hearings annually to discuss the financial reviews of the performance of the GCSB and the NZSIS.
In addition to these changes Mr Dunne will have a role in the Government’s upcoming work to address the Law Commission’s 2010 report Invasion of Privacy: Penalties and Remedies. This work will include a review of the definition of ‘private communication’, which was highlighted as an issue by submitters on the GCSB legislation.
- There will be an independent review of the operations and performance of the GCSB and NZSIS and their governing legislation in 2015, and thereafter every 5-7 years.
Mr Key said today that he did not believe that the GCSB had engaged in the mass collection of metadata and he confirmed that it should be treated the same as communication and any collection of it would require a warrant. He planned to make a clear statement about it in the bill's second reading.One concern not discussed is the extent of collaboration between the Five Eyes nations (US, Canada, Australia, UK, and NZ). It appears that the GCSB would continue to spy on NZ citizens at the request of any of these "partners". Why they did with the information, and whether it may end up back in the hands of other non-warranted authorities in New Zealand is unclear.
But on the whole we now have a much, much better bill with more safeguards, controls, and limitations. We are now much more in line with Australian practice. Maybe the US Congress should take a long look. Concerned members there may find their hands have been strengthened. That may embarrass the Obama administration into shaping up--committed "internationalist" that the President purports to be.
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