The cybermen are on the march - new cyber monitoring powers have been given to Kiwi police and SIS

The cybermen are on the march - new cyber monitoring powers have been given to Kiwi police and SIS...


New Zealand's cyber spies have finally been given new powers by the National Government. The Security Intelligence Service and the police force have been given new powers to monitor all aspects of New Zealand citizens' online activities.

The measures are extensions of powers the police and SIS have had for decades in surveillance capacities, but have been extended to cover the monitoring of cell phone calls and texts; emails, internet surfing, online shopping, chatting, social networking, blogs and other websites.

While the actual legislation was introduced by the former Labour Government in 2004, all the necessary hardware - spying devices and special software in telephone exchanges, internet companies and even the fibre- optic data networks between towns and cities to enable the cybermen to gain the ability to monitor almost all communications in New Zealand took time to install - last year there were 68 interception warrants issued and 157 people prosecuted under the old system.

It will now be like the SIS planting bugs in every cafe and park in the country.

The old stock reply - if you haven't done anything you have nothing to worry about doesn't wash with me! How would you know if some vindictive person had lodged a malicious complaint with the police or SIS and an investigation was taking place concerning you?

Sure, we know it is a different world since 9/11, but we still live in a democracy and still have civil rights that should be respected by Big Brother. The cybermen will need to be kept on a short leash. Their interception warrants will need to be monitored as well. If they want to monitor any of my blogs, they will need to be fully justified.