In September last year, Edward Snowden said he had seen large quantities of metadata from New Zealanders' communications while working in the NSA's regional headquarters in Hawaii.
He was presumably referring to New Zealanders' communications intercepted during the Asia-Pacific regional monitoring conducted at Waihopai and other allied bases.
The Snowden documents show how foreign intelligence staff follow a step-by-step process to access the GCSB's South Pacific intelligence, including the metadata and communications of New Zealanders living, holidaying and interacting in that region.
A British agency guide shows that there are two databases on "Ironsand" (Waihopai)-intercepted communications they can access. "To query the data on these sites," the guide says, "you must first have a briefing on NZSID7, the law that governs what the GCSB can and can't do." The foreign staff were instructed to read a written briefing and then, before accessing the New Zealand intelligence, take an online test on the GCSB rules.
Once they had completed the "multi-choice, open-book" test, the foreign intelligence analysts were told to "Click 'Order the Products and Services catalogue'." They typed "xkeyscore" and "Search" and then "NZXkeyscore". The guide said, "Once you have filed the required information, click Add to Cart" and "Click Submit request".
The NZSID7 (New Zealand Signals Intelligence Directive 7) contains the rules for when the other Five Eyes agencies can look at intelligence about New Zealanders. For all other countries - friend or foe - there is unrestricted spying and unrestricted access provided to the Five Eyes spies.
Who's who
GCSB: The Government Communications Security Bureau. This is New Zealand's electronic surveillance agency, which is tasked with collecting foreign intelligence. It is New Zealand's contribution to the Five Eyes network.
Five Eyes: The Five Eyes are made up of the intelligence agencies of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. Its roots go back to a post-WWII pact between the US and UK, which included three Commonwealth nations. The US is the lead partner - the others, "secondary" partners.
NSA: The United States' National Security Agency. This is the US electronic surveillance agency and the lead partner in the Five Eyes network.
XKeyscore: An NSA computer program which is able to search through the majority of communications around the globe which have been harvested largely by Five Eyes partners.
Ironsand: Codename for the Waihopai GCSB base, at the top of the South Island in New Zealand. It is a signal intelligence base.
Edward Snowden: The former NSA contractor who walked out in 2012 with a massive number of files, citing concerns about the extent and style of US-led surveillance. He is currently living in exile in Russia.
The Intercept: An online news site, largely led by journalist and lawyer Glenn Greenwald. It was Greenwald who Snowden approached with his trove of data.
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