New Zealand Passes Email, Phone Surveillance Law

Forces telecommunications companies to allow intelligence agencies to access emails, phone calls, and texts

New Zealand's parliament has narrowly passed new legislation compelling telecommunication companies to allow the intelligence agencies to access customers' emails, texts and phone calls.

Under the telecommunications interceptions and security capability bill, firms must also consult with the electronic eavesdropping agency, the Government Communications Security Bureau, (GCSB), when developing new infrastructure and networks, and allow interception equipment to be installed on their networks.