New Zealand PM John Key Says GCSB Acted 'Legally'; Kim Dotcom Urges Key To Resign Amid Snowden Leaks

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key has refused to assure Kiwis that a mass surveillance is not happening in the Pacific islands. Former intelligence chief Sir Bruce Ferguson had admitted to mass surveillance on Pacific countries but no information on New Zealanders was used.

Mr. Key said he was not prepared to deny or confirm the claims made by Bruce Ferguson. The prime minister added that he was told that the Government Communications Security Bureau was acting within the boundaries of the law.

Stuff.co reports that the secret documents leaked by the former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden contained information on New Zealand’s spying on its neighbouring Pacific countries. The GCSB had allegedly passed on the information directly to the National Security Agency in the U.S.

After investigative journalist Nicky Hager exposed the documents, concerns were raised whether the GCSB had monitored the communications of Kiwis who were in the Pacific. Ferguson said that it was impossible to customise data, so New Zealand’s spy agency gathered mass information but discarded what it could not use.

In reaction to the Ferguson’s statements, Mr. Key said there were several possible interpretations of what Ferguson had meant but he could not be sure if mass collection of data was not happening in the Pacific.

Mr. Key said that he was not going to criticise the GCSB’s former director. He dclared that the law is “clear” on the role of GCSB and its capacity to gather information against a New Zealander under a limited set of conditions.

Meanwhile, Internet mogul and Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom has called on Mr. Key to resign. He said that almost a million New Zealanders have travelled to the Pacific every year. Dotcom added that when data is being sent to the NSA by the GCSB, it was the “definition of mass surveillance.”

The German native, who is facing extradition to the U.S. on charges of copyright infringement and money-laundering, said if the GCSB was not gathering information, the NSA would be collecting the data from the U.S. He believes the GCSB has access to that data.

The Greens Party had filed a complaint with the Inspector General of Intelligence and Security and accused the GCSB of breaking the law by spying on Kiwis in the Pacific. The New Zealand Herald reports that the complaint is considered a direct challenge to Mr Key’s statement that the GCSB’s actions were legal.

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