The Australian Secret Intelligence Service is the foreign intelligence agency of Australia, tasked with the covert collection of information overseas through personal contacts and other means of human intelligence. It is part of the Australian Intelligence Community and is also responsible for counter-intelligence and liaising with the intelligence agencies of other countries. ASIS was formed in 1952 but its existence remained secret within much of the government until 1972. ASIS is comparable to the American CIA and the British MI6.
The New Zealand Security Intelligence Service is New Zealand's primary national intelligence agency. It is responsible for providing information and advising on matters including national security and foreign intelligence. It is headquartered in Wellington and overseen by a Director-General, the Minister of New Zealand Security Intelligence Service, and the parliamentary intelligence and security committee; independent oversight is provided by the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security.
The Government Communications Security Bureau is the public-service department of New Zealand charged with promoting New Zealand's national security by collecting and analysing information of an intelligence nature. The GCSB is considered to be New Zealand's most powerful intelligence agency, and has been alleged to have conducted more espionage and data collection than the country's primary intelligence agency, the less funded NZSIS. This has at times proven controversial, although the GCSB does not have the baggage of criticism attached to it for a perceived failure to be effective like the NZSIS does. The GCSB is considered an equivalent of GCHQ in the United Kingdom or the NSA in the United States.
Nicolas Alfred Hager is a New Zealand investigative journalist. He has produced seven books since 1996, covering topics such as intelligence networks, environmental issues and politics. He is one of two New Zealand members of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.
The Security Intelligence Review Committee was a committee of Privy Councillors that was empowered to serve as an independent oversight and review body for the operations of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS). The SIRC was established in 1984 as a result of the reorganization of Canadian intelligence agencies recommended by the McDonald Commission investigating the illegal activities of the former RCMP Security Service.
The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS) is a joint committee of the Parliament of Australia which oversees Australia's primary agencies of the Australian Intelligence Community: Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS), the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD), the Defence Intelligence Organisation (DIO), the Australian Geospatial-Intelligence Organisation (DIGO), and the Office of National Assessments (ONA).
The Australian Intelligence Community (AIC) and the National Intelligence Community (NIC) or National Security Community of the Australian Government are the collectives of statutory intelligence agencies, policy departments, and other government agencies concerned with protecting and advancing the national security and national interests of the Commonwealth of Australia. The intelligence and security agencies of the Australian Government have evolved since the Second World War and the Cold War and saw transformation and expansion during the Global War on Terrorism with military deployments in Afghanistan, Iraq and against ISIS in Syria. Key international and national security issues for the Australian Intelligence Community include terrorism and violent extremism, cybersecurity, transnational crime, the rise of China, and Pacific regional security.
New Zealand's intelligence agencies and units have existed, with some interruption, since World War II. At present, New Zealand's intelligence community has approximately 550 employees, and has a combined budget of around NZ$145 million.
The National Assessments Bureau (NAB), previously known as the External Assessments Bureau (EAB), is a New Zealand intelligence analysis agency within the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC). The NAB along with the Government Communications Security Bureau and the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service is one of the three core members of New Zealand's intelligence community. It provides assessments to the Prime Minister, other Ministers, senior officials and New Zealand's diplomatic missions abroad, on events and developments that bear on New Zealand's interests, especially in regard to matters of national security.
Warren Henry Tucker is a retired New Zealand intelligence officer. He was the director of the Security Intelligence Service from 2006 to 2014.
Foreign espionage in New Zealand, while likely not as extensive as in many larger countries, has nevertheless taken place. The New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS), which has primary responsibility for counter-intelligence work, states that there are foreign intelligence agents working in New Zealand today.
The Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) is an independent statutory office holder in the Commonwealth of Australia responsible for reviewing the activities of the six intelligence agencies under IGIS jurisdiction. With own motion powers in addition to considering complaints or requests from ministers, IGIS is a key element of the accountability regime for Australia’s intelligence and security agencies.
New Zealand is committed to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and has ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, both of which contain a right to privacy. Privacy law in New Zealand is dealt with by statute and the common law. The Privacy Act 2020 addresses the collection, storage and handling of information. A general right to privacy has otherwise been created in the tort of privacy. Such a right was recognised in Hosking v Runting [2003] 3 NZLR 385, a case that dealt with publication of private facts. In the subsequent case C v Holland [2012] NZHC 2155 the Court recognised a right to privacy in the sense of seclusion or a right to be free from unwanted intrusion. For a useful summary see: court-recognises-intrusion-on-seclusion-privacy-tort-hugh-tomlinson-qc/
The Government Communications Security Bureau Act 2003 is a repealed New Zealand Act of Parliament. It formalised the role of the Government Communications Security Bureau, which had previously existed in various states of secrecy since 1977, as the national authority for signals intelligence and information systems security, and put it on a similar legislative footing to the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service.
The Human Rights Foundation of Aotearoa New Zealand is a non-governmental organisation in New Zealand, which seeks "to promote and defend human rights through research based education and advocacy."
Rebecca Lucy Kitteridge is a New Zealand public servant. Her current position is Deputy Public Service Commissioner.
The Minister of National Security and Intelligence is a minister in the government of New Zealand who is responsible for leading and setting the policies and legislative framework of New Zealand's national security system. The current minister is Chris Hipkins, who is also the current Prime Minister of New Zealand as by convention, the National Security and Intelligence portfolio is always held by the Prime Minister.
The National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians is a body composed of members of the House of Commons and Senate which reviews the activities of the Government of Canada's national security and intelligence agencies. The committee also performs strategic and systematic reviews of the legislative, regulatory, policy, expenditure and administrative frameworks under which national security activities are conducted.
The Independent National Security Legislation Monitor (INSLM) is a statutory independent executive oversight body of the Australian Government responsible for the ongoing review of the operation, effectiveness and implications of Australian counter‑terrorism and national security legislation. The INSLM also considers whether legislation contains appropriate safeguards for protecting the rights of individuals, remains proportionate to any threat of terrorism and or threat to national security, and remains necessary. As such the INSLM is a major part of the oversight regime of the Australian Intelligence Community together with the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security and the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security.
Inspector-General of Intelligence (IGI) monitors and reviews the operations of the intelligence services of South Africa which include the State Security Agency, Defence Intelligence Division of the South African National Defence Force and Crime Intelligence Division of the South African Police Service. Its second function is to investigate complaints from the South African public as to possible abuses of the constitution and intelligence laws by the intelligence services.
