Another annual report from the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, and another revelation that our spy agencies have broken the law - this time over data sharing with Customs. But what's worse is that they have flatly refused to cooperate with the Inspector-General's investigation:
Our spies have broken the law accessing Customs and Immigration data and have resisted explaining to the intelligence oversight body why they have done so.
That's the blunt statement spelled out in the latest annual report from the Inspector General of Intelligence and Security.
[...]
The details are revealed in the latest annual report from Gwynn into the NZ Security Intelligence Service and the Government Communications Security Bureau.
In it, Gwynn said the NZSIS had "unlawfully obtained Customs data" until mid-2016 and it had not properly explained why.
In the past, intelligence agencies have provided the Inspector-General with their internal legal advice, which is essential to understanding their position. SIS has refused. Which suggests that their advice is tenuous (or non-existent), and they know it, and are relying on secrecy to avoid the criticism they deserve. But either wya, it shows us that the "oversight" of IGIS is fundamentally broken, that their legal power to compel evidence (which overrides secrecy) is apparently insufficient, and that spies do not fear the derisory $5,000 fine for obstructing the Inspector-General in their duties. In other words, the oversight regime is a joke. But if that's the case, then the promise the government made (that new spy powers would be constrained by better oversight) was a lie, and that it is simply not safe for our society to have spies.
Parliament needs to put its foot down: either SIS cooperates completely with IGIS, or they get defunded and eliminated. Because their legitimacy depends on being seen to uphold our rights against the spies, by ensuring that the latter follow the law. Parliament cannot permit a public agency to behave in such a criminal and lawless manner. At least, not if it wants to keep saying that we are a democracy.
