"Truly, You Have a Dizzying Intellect"

US Intelligence Officials

What would have caused it?  Hubris?  Ignorance? Myopia?  Deep state conspiracies?  Gross incompetence?  It beggars belief that highly classified intelligence originating out of the UK covering the Manchester terrorist attack would end up in media briefings in the United States within twenty-four hours.

Oliver J J Lane from BreitbartLondon filed the following report:

The United Kingdom has now stopped passing intelligence gathered as part of the investigation into the Manchester bombing to the United States according to claims made by the British state broadcaster BBC.

We need to exercise some degree of caution when a news report is being sourced from the BBC--hardly an organ of independent news probity these days--but the story has not been contradicted on either side of the Atlantic.

The Spywatchers

Checks and Balances in Secret Services

Mass surveillance of New Zealand citizens has been a hot issue in this country for the past eighteen months or so.  Our local spy networks, along with international spy partners, have been sharply criticised for engaging in (literally) unwarranted spying.

The NZ spy agencies have opened up more than ever before and have more diligent and exacting review mechanisms overseeing them.  The independence and integrity of the reviewers seems beyond question.  The first independent review has now been published, entitled "Intelligence and Security in a Free Society: Report of the First Independent Review of Intelligence and Security in New Zealand".

The Foreword states:

Our central conclusion is that there should be a single, integrated and comprehensive Act of Parliament that lays out in plain English how the agencies are constituted; what their
purposes are; how all their intelligence and security activities are authorised; and how they are overseen so as to protect those freedoms and liberties that are part of what we are as a nation.

The Act should state clearly that its fundamental purpose is the protection of New Zealand as a free, open and democratic society. That then becomes the guiding principle by which the activities of the agencies must be undertaken and judged.

There should always be debate about how best to ensure that purpose is achieved.
Freedom and liberty cannot be preserved either in a vacuum of apathy or in an atmosphere of tolerance of the abuse of power. But nor can they be preserved by wilfully or casually ignoring the existence of those who reject or threaten the values of freedom and liberty.  Our report proposes a legislative framework designed to encompass both those enduring truths. 

So far, so good.   The Report goes on to conclude that no mass surveillance of New Zealanders is taking place.  The assessment on this issue is as follows:

Another Case for the Supreme Court?

An Exception That Will Make a Rule

This is a really interesting issue.  On the one hand is the US Department of Justice and the FBI.  On the other is Apple.  

The Department of Justice is seeking to compel Apple to build a tool which would override and nullify the in-built privacy protections of Apple i-phones.  The US Government wants this "special tool" to read the phone(s) of the two terrorists who murdered people in San Bernadino.  Apple is refusing.  Here is Apple's argument:

Smoke, Mirrors, and Loopholes

Spying On One's Own

The UK government has finally come out of the closet.  It has reluctantly confirmed publicly, for the first time, that its intelligence agencies conduct warrant-less spying upon its own citizens.  But there is a casuistic justification which outdoes the subtlety of a Medieval Schoolman: the electronic data upon which the UK agencies spy has to have been collected by one of the other "Five Eyes" nations (Canada, the US, Australia, or New Zealand.)  This from The Guardian: 

Government Spying Bill

Much Better

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: