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New Zealand passes law allowing domestic spying

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“There are threats our government needs to protect New Zealanders from, those threats are real and ever-present and we underestimate them at our peril.”

Do people actually believe this paranoid trash? The only real and ever-present threats New Zealanders have is from earthquakes.

-5 ( +0 / -5 )

As long as there are people who have the potential to commit terrorist acts within your borders, the government will use surveillance within you borders. It's not rocket science.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

" the government can find some dirt on him or her to discredit them."

The 'government' can construct a desired profile. Nearly everyone has "dirt" that can be constructed.

"Big brother is most definitely arrived. The terrorists are winning as we in the "free" world are rapidly becoming less free." Has been happening in the US for decades!

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

The State has been spying on citizens for years n years the only thing is now they have admitted to doing it, announced it and made it legal for them to do.

Most countrys have some form of domestic spying and if you think that is not so then you need to come out from under your rock, wipe the sleep from your eyes, take alook around you and ponder the realities of living in the real world.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

The scariest thing is that this is a one way street. There will be no going back - the state watching you and reading what you read are here to stay. There are similarities to what is happening in the US. The NZ spy agency was caught breaking the law and subsequently discovered to have done so dozens of times, they were acting illegally. But instead of punishing the law breakers they changed the law to make what was illegal, legal. I can see where this is going. A journalist who might be uncovering a big story that will greatly embarrass the government will have his every email, web page visited and phone calls monitored until the government can find some dirt on him or her to discredit them. Big brother is most definitely arrived. The terrorists are winning as we in the "free" world are rapidly becoming less free.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

It is becoming more and more enjoyable to watch westerners like NZ passing such laws. We also saw UK arresting the partner of a journalist who knows some secrets and questioning him for hours under Terrorism Act and in the meantime lecturing other non-democratic countries about press freedom and about freedom of opinion.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

This is sad to read. If in the future any politician and or public official with access to the records can construct a profile in any direction they desire. And thats disturbing to me.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

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