Monday, 15. September 2014
Topic: SECURITY - on September 15, 2014 at 4:32:00 PM CEST
Kim Dotcom accuses New Zealand government of mass spying
Internet entrepreneur holds panel with Glenn Greenwald and Julian Assange to expand on revelations that New Zealand government sought to implement top-secret mass surveillance program.
Summary
New Zealand’s election campaign collided with the biggest questions of the internet age on Monday - here’s how this remarkable day went down:
Documents provided by the whistleblower Edward Snowden reveal that the New Zealand government worked to implement a secret mass surveillance program code-named “Speargun” throughout 2012 and 2013.
It followed an admission at the weekend by the New Zealand prime minister, John Key, that his government considered a mass-spying proposal after a series of cyber attacks. Key says the proposed surveillance made him “uncomfortable” and that he halted it in March 2013.
Edward Snowden has weighed in, warning New Zealanders that he was personally able to search their intercepted internet traffic while working as an NSA analyst in Hawai’i. “If you live in New Zealand, you are being watched,” he wrote.
Key responded by releasing his own declassified documents, which he says prove that no mass spying ever took place.
Snowden has appeared via live stream at Moment of Truth, an Internet party event at Auckland Town Hall intended to publicise the Speargun revelations. Snowden told the audience that the NSA’s reach extended even to Auckland, where he claimed the agency operated a spy facility.
Internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom has pledged to end any mass surveillance of New Zealanders if he fledgling political party wins the balance of power at this Saturday’s general election. “We’ll close one of the five eyes,” Dotcom said, in reference to the intelligence-sharing agreement between Australia, the US, the UK, New Zealand and Canada.
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