Apparition GCSB: A Secret Spy System
The Apparition system was a top-secret US surveillance system hosted by the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) in New Zealand. The system was owned and controlled by the US National Security Agency (NSA), and its purpose was to support military action against targets.
MOU and Installation
An internal GCSB document from 2012 showed that the bureau signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the NSA to host the Apparition system. The installation was planned for June 2012 at the Waihopai satellite interception base. The IGIS report used almost exactly the same words as the GCSB document.
Concerns and Oversight
GCSB staff raised legal and moral issues about the system, but there is no evidence of substantive due diligence being done by GCSB on the reasons for tasking the capability. The IGIS report found that the GCSB “apparently neither received nor sought any information about what GCSB-collected data acquired by the system was going to be used for.”
Capture-Kill Operations
The Apparition system was likely used in global capture-kill operations, as mentioned in a 2008 NSA report. The report stated that the system “builds on the success of the GHOSTHUNTER prototype… a tool that enabled a significant number of capture-kill operations against terrorists.” Human rights organizations have documented numerous deaths of civilians during US capture-kill operations, many of which were “algorithmically targeted” using electronic surveillance systems like Apparition.
Secrecy and Lack of Transparency
The GCSB refused to release a copy of the MOU under the Official Information Act, citing concerns about protecting its interests. The IGIS report was heavily redacted, and the minister in charge was not informed about the GCSB hosting the Apparition system. The lack of transparency and oversight raises concerns about the accountability and ethical implications of the system.
https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/03/28/revealed-gcsb-hosted-us-spy-system-used-in-global-capture-kill-operations/
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2024/03/28/well-well-well-i-spy-with-my-5-eyes-something-beginning-with-1984/
https://declassifiedaus.org/2024/03/30/secret-u-s-military-spying-operation-hidden-from-government-in-new-zealand/