Aardvark Daily

Please visit the sponsor!

Google versus the NZ Government

It's hard to find anyone to love in the head-to-head between "Do no evil" Google and the "all your data are belong to us" NZ Government.

In this report, Google is cited as stating that despite changes to the new GCSB laws, the government has failed to address very important concerns regarding the obligations of service providers to comply with directives made by authorities.

After reading a little more, it becomes clear that this law is even more of an ass than the one it replaces and is supposed to clarify.

The use of subjective terms such as "reasonable steps" is ridiculous and bound to lead to even more "interpretation errors" than the old legislation did.

One man's "reasonable step" is another man's "step too far" so unless some far more concrete metrics are included, this effectively provides the state with a carte-blanche right to demand total compliance from providers.

Now if the GCSB can't understand the very clearly worded legislation they infringed in the case of Kim Dotcom -- ie: you may not spy on NZ citizens and residents, then how confusing will it be for them to try and understand the concept of "reasonable steps"?

Replacing bad legislation with even worse laws that fly in the face of public opinion is not the work of a responsible or democratic government -- and for this reason we should all be gravely concerned and Google is right on the money with their claim that they "don't think the current bill strikes the right balance between the legitimate interests of law enforcement and the privacy and security of our users".

Of course we will be able to vote this National government out of power in a year or so's time -- but what further damage will be inflicted on the rights of Kiwis in the meantime?

Right now, those involved in the negotiation (ie: conceding to the demands of the USA) with respect to the TPPA are working in overdrive. The goal is to get this little sale of our rights done and dusted before the next election -- whereupon we'll be bound by its terms regardless of who is in power.

Some time ago there was significant concern that the Chinese giant Huawei was involved in the provision of gear for NZ's communications infrastructure. The story, mainly spread by the USA, was that this company was too closely linked to the Chinese government and could well be filled with back-doors and "spyware" that might result in our privacy being violated and our trade secrets being stolen.

Um... excuse me?

How does this differ from the USA's pervasive spying on all NZers, aided and abetted by an NZ government that seems to be ignoring the clearly stated wishes of its citizens?

Personally, I think China and the USA are probably on a pretty even footing when it comes to their spying and their ethics in this area.

The bottom line...

If NZers accept this latest hit on their privacy rights then they deserve no privacy at all (which is exactly what they'll be getting).

This *is* a democracy, you must stand up and be counted or face the penalties associated with your indifference and inaction.

All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.

At least Google is (this time) being true to its motto of "Do no evil" -- can we claim the same?

Please visit the sponsor!

Have your say on this...

PERMALINK to this column

Rank This Aardvark Page

Change Font