Posts by Idiot Savant
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Hard News: Snowden and New Zealand, in reply to Paul Campbell,
does having a security clearance legally require you to keep secrets? can the existence of a bug that the NSA is actively exploiting be declared a state secret? even one in my own code?
No.Security clearances have no statutory force. Ultimately they're simply an employment issue.
There is a summary offence of http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1981/0113/latest/DLM53565.html?search=ta_act_S_ac%40ainf%40anif_an%40bn%40rn_200_a&p=1, and a crime of Wrongful communication, retention, or copying of official information. Neither has to my knowledge ever been used, and the government would be pushing shit uphill (both politically and legally) to try and mount a prosecution for either of a public-interest leak.
Edit to add: And if the bug is in your own code, they're screwed, because the law relies on "official information" and "official documents". If its your code, or if you discover the document independently, its neither, provided you are not working for the government at the time.
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Hard News: Snowden and New Zealand, in reply to Steve Barnes,
they could, I suppose, classify a document as “Public” and refuse to let you see it on the grounds that it is “classified”.
Nope. The OIA doesn't care about what labels agencies stick on documents. Instead, they would have to claim that release would prejudice the security and defence of New Zealand (or whatever), but that doesn't automatically follow from classification.
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Hard News: Snowden and New Zealand, in reply to Paul Campbell,
My guess is the real reason for having someone with a security clearance is so that the GCSB has someone in place in every ISP to use when the time comes to start tapping someone aggressively, they also need someone they can tell "don't fix that bug, we're using that"
Clearance doesn't mean obediance, and I would hope that any sysadmin in the latter case would immediately post the demand all over the internet. But I guess the point of requiring security clearance in the first place is to weed out such people from such positions.
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Hard News: Snowden and New Zealand, in reply to Steve Barnes,
On the subject of security clearence. We used to have the "Official Secrets Act" enacted in 1951, repealed? dunno.
Repealed by the OIA over 30 years ago.
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Hard News: Snowden and New Zealand, in reply to Paul Campbell,
They're already drowning in their own paperwork. A few years ago SIS took years to grant a security clearance (and they didn't do it right - remember this guy? SIS gave him a clearance).
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Hard News: Snowden and New Zealand, in reply to Russell Brown,
Many people in telecommunications are very unhappy about all this. Understandably.
Then they should simply refuse to cooperate with SIS's underwear sniffing. The government can hardly shut down the entire NZ internet, and if a civil disobediance campaign is widespread enough (people refusing to fill out the forms, refusing to fill them out accurately, and refusing to speak to SIS snoops seeking to check referees), then that is the option they will face.
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Hard News: Snowden and New Zealand, in reply to Paul Campbell,
(does NZ actually have security clearances? I guess we'll all need them now).
Yes - they're required for work in certain government positions (e.g. MFAT, Defence, spies, and some parts of Treasury, SSC, DPMC, police, customs, and immigration). There's a candidate guide here.
Requiring such clearance for appropriate government work is one thing. But demanding it of civilians who have nothing to do with the government (and potentially being able to shut down an entire business if they don't jump through your stupid hoops) is intrusive and onerous.
OTOH, if you don't want to play, just tell them that you're a drug-addicted communist wikileaks-supporter with huge financial problems who is cheating on your partner (that establishes three of the classic motives: Money, Ideology, Compromise). Problem solved.
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Hard News: Snowden and New Zealand, in reply to Stephen R,
There doesn't seem to be a way to avoid being observed, sorted, classified and profiled without giving up on modern life.
Vote out the spies?
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Hard News: The sphere of influence, in reply to nzlemming,
Check the Register of Pecuniary Interests? Williamson gets director's fees from "Holyoake Industries Limited"
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Hard News: A Big Idea, in reply to Aidan,
Maybe high house prices are a result of secular stagnation. If so, those other articles might hint at approached to reconfigure the incentives to make capital investment more attractive.
Because stock market bubbles are so much better than property market bubbles.