Cybersnooping: Submissions Due
Kia ora,
This is to alert you to the deadline for submissions on the government’s cybersnooping proposals - as per Supplementary Order Paper (SOP) No 85 to the Crimes Amendment Bill (no 6) - which will give unprecedented potential for large scale automated surveillance of electronic messages, and state hacking into personal computers. The deadline for submissions has been set as 9 February 2001, despite the government having earlier said ‘about six months’ would be allowed for submissions to be made (see Keith Locke’s media release on this below).
We will be sending out further information about SOP 85 in the next couple of weeks, but in the meantime, if you would like a copy of the Bill and a copy of the Hansard record of the debate when the Bill had its first reading, please let the PMA office know and we can send them to you by fax or post. They are not available in email form. If you can send a donation to cover the cost of our copying and sending the material to you ($3-00 per set of papers), we would be very grateful.
To make a submission - twenty five copies of your submission should be sent to Tracey Rayner, Law and Order Committee Secretariat, Bowen House, Parliament Buildings,Wellington by 9 February 2001. If you wish to appear in person before the Committee, you need to state this clearly in your submission, and include a contact name and daytime phone number. Submissions to select committees generally become public. Contact the committee secretariat before sending information of a private or personal nature, fax (04) 472 6160.
You could also send your thoughts about
this proposal to the national/nationally distributed media :
Christchurch Press, fax (03) 364 8492,
*************************** 30 November
2000 Restriction on public say over snooping laws Green
MP Keith Locke today accused the Government of going back on
a commitment to allow full public debate on legislation
allowing police and security agencies to intercept emails
and hack into computers. Parliament's law and order
committee has placed advertisements in newspapers this week
setting a February 9 deadline for submissions on the Crimes
Amendment Bill (No 6). "This deadline betrays a commitment
Communications Minister Paul Swain made when introducing the
bill, that there would be 'about six months for people to
have their say'," said Mr Locke, the Green Party's police
spokesperson. "If you take away the holiday period, a
February 9 deadline gives people very little time to prepare
their submissions. "Electronic interception and hacking
are highly technical areas. Fully informed submissions will
take some time to prepare. There are also major human rights
and privacy issues for submitters to wrestle with. "The
Green Party is totally opposed to this draconian
legislation. We may be the only party in the House to have
voted against its introduction, but on this issue we
represent a huge body of public opinion. "The internet is
abuzz with protest. The Green Party is circulating a
petition not to allow 'police and security services to
intercept email message'. It is signed by most people
approached. "I have written to Mr Swain, and the chair of
the committee, Janet Mackey, asking for the time for
submissions to be substantially extended," said Mr Locke.
Peace Movement Aotearoa the national
networking peace group PO Box 9314, Wellington, Aotearoa
/ New Zealand. tel +64 4 382 8129, fax 382 8173,