Intelligence collection

Government agencies use our intelligence to make better policies, operational plans and decisions.

The GCSB is New Zealand’s lead organisation for Signals Intelligence (SIGINT), meaning we specialise in intelligence derived from electronic communications.

We use our Signals Intelligence collection capabilities to produce intelligence that provides decision advantage to government agencies in conduct of their legislatively mandated functions.

The provision of this intelligence is one way that we contribute to the safety and security of New Zealand and New Zealand’s interests.

To be effective, much of the detail of our intelligence collection activity needs to be kept secret. That’s why legal compliance and reflecting the communities we serve are fundamentally important to us.

Everything we do is in accordance with the objectives of the Intelligence and Security Act 2017 (the Act) and New Zealand’s human rights obligations, and is subject to strong independent oversight.

Our legislation enables us to intercept communications, seek assistance from telecommunications network operators and service providers, and receive intelligence from our international partners. It also allows us to access information infrastructures, which is more than just interception. Accessing information infrastructures also allows us to retrieve digital information directly from where it is stored or processed.

All of our intelligence activity is guided by the New Zealand Government’s National Security Intelligence Priorities - Whakaarotau Marumaru Aotearoa.

The Act allows us to collect intelligence under two types of warrants:

• A Type 1 warrant is required for the purposes of collecting information about, or to do any other thing directly in relation to, a New Zealander, and must be issued jointly by both the Minister Responsible for the GCSB and a Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants. The Commissioner must be a former High Court Judge.
• A Type 2 warrant is for targeting non-New Zealanders and is issued by the Minister Responsible for the GCSB.

All warrants are subject to review by the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security after they are issued.