GCSB & the lives of others: Public meeting

Public meeting on the surveillance by the GCSB

You are warmly invited to a public meeting on Monday, May 27 at 6pm at the Mezzanine Meeting room of the Wellington Central Library to discuss the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB), the illegal surveillance it conducted, the law change being made to legalise its unlawful activities and the role of the GCSB in the US global surveillance network.

Speakers:
Nicky Hager - author of the book Secret Power which exposed the secrecy of the GCSB
Keith Locke - who has been spied on by the state since he was 10 years old
Michael Bott - member of the NZ Council for Civil Liberties

New Bill in Britain

The British government has introduced a draft bill to introduce total digital surveillance. Details about every email, phone call or text message in the U.K. (sic) would be logged — and they say that those  worried about the program are all either criminals or conspiracy theorists.

If (or when) this Bill becomes law, providers would collect IP addresses, the details of customers' electronic hardware, and subscriber information including names, addresses, and payment information.

Physical communications would also be monitored: Address details written on envelopes would be copied and parcel tracking information would be logged as well.

The state would be able to keep all the data up to a year, or longer if it was the subject of legal proceedings.

The monitoring will be done without the need for the police or agencies to apply for a warrant. No one will know the extent of the monitoring, its effects, nor the conclusions that the authorities may draw from the data.