(((▪︎New Zealand’s Five Eyes membership called into question over ‘China links’▪︎)))

~US analyst says both major political parties have links to China’s Communist party amid fears over the growing influence of Beijing~

The New Zealand government’s relationship with China has come under the spotlight after a former CIA analyst in the US said the nation’s participation in the Five Eyes intelligence alliance needs to be reconsidered.

Giving testimony to the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission , Peter Mattis said Jacinda Ardern’s Labour party had accepted money from donors with links to the Chinese Communist party, while former prime minister Bill English had routinely briefed a National MP who was revealed to have worked at an institution that trained Chinese spies….cont.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/28/new-zealands-five-eyes-membership-called-into-question-over-china-links

>>5718711

(((▪︎China's communist party has so much power in New Zealand that western countries might stop sharing intelligence▪︎)))

A former CIA China expert proposed cutting New Zealand out of the Five Eyes intelligence sharing arrangement with the US, UK, Canada, and Australia.

The ex-analyst said the action should be taken in response to New Zealand's prime ministers' denials of any influence attempts by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Both Australia and Zealand have been hosting intense discussions over CCP influence.

Australian media recently confirmed a secret government report that uncovered CCP influence within all levels of politics.

A former CIA analyst has raised the prospect of kicking New Zealand out of an international intelligence-sharing alliance, which includes the US.

Five Eyes is the name of the intelligence alliance between the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand that has routinely shared sensitive intelligence since 1955. But failure to respond to interference attempts by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) should endanger New Zealand's membership, Peter Mattis, a former CIA China expert testified to the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission last month.

"In New Zealand, both the last prime minister, Bill English, and Jacinda Ardern, have denied that there's a problem at all," Mattis, now a fellow at The Jamestown Foundation, said.

"To quickly move to a recommendation, I think that at some level the Five Eyes, or the Four Eyes, need to have a discussion about whether or not New Zealand can remain given this problem with the political core, and it needs to be put in those terms so that New Zealand's government understands that the consequences are substantial for not…cont.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.businessinsider.com/new-zealand-should-be-cut-from-five-eyes-over-china-influence-2018-5

▪︎5 Eyes, 9 Eyes, 14 Eyes – Explained▪︎

The terms “5 Eyes“, “9 Eyes“, and “14 Eyes” often appear in the privacy community, especially when discussing VPNs.

In short, these are just international surveillance alliances representing various countries around the world. These surveillance alliances work together to collect and share mass surveillance data. In other words, they are essentially acting as one global-surveillance entity to spy on you and record your activities.

In this guide we’ll explain the different “X” eyes surveillance alliances and why this topic is important when choosing a VPN service or any other privacy tool.

Five Eyes

The Five Eyes (FVEY) surveillance alliance includes:

Australia

Canada

New Zealand

United Kingdom

United States

The history of this alliance goes all the way back to WWII and the UKUSA Agreement. This agreement officially formalized a partnership between the United Kingdom and United States for sharing intelligence. The partnership continued throughout the Cold War and has only strengthened following the “War on Terror” and subsequent “terrorist” events.

Edward Snowden brought renewed focus to the Five Eyes surveillance alliance in 2013 when he exposed the surveillance activities of the US government and its allies.

According to Wikipedia, these are the different “5 Eyes” surveillance agencies working together to collect and record your activities: (see graphic above)

It is no surprise that some of the Five Eyes countries listed above are also the worst abusers of online privacy:

United Kingdom – Since the passage of the Investigatory Powers Act in 2016, internet service providers and telecoms have been recording browsing history, connection times, and text messages. The data is stored for two years and is available to UK government agencies and their partners without any warrant necessary.

United States – The US government has been implementing Orwellian mass surveillance collection methods with the help of large telecoms and internet service providers (see the PRISM program). Recently internet service providers have been given the legal authority to record user activity and sell this to third parties (and you can’t opt out).

Australia – Australia has also implemented sweeping data retention laws similar to the United Kingdom. (See the best VPN for Australia guide.)

Broad authority – The other drawback with these Five Eyes countries is that they have tremendous authority to force companies to hand over data.

(((This is particularly easy for US government agencies, which can also demand non-disclosure through gag orders.)))

Nine Eyes

The Nine Eyes countries include all of the previous Five Eyes countries plus:

Denmark

France

Netherlands

Norway

The existence of the Nine Eyes alliance is referenced in Wikipedia and other sources online. It is just an extension of the Five Eyes alliance with similar cooperation to collect and share mass surveillance data.

14 Eyes

The 14 Eyes surveillance countries include all of the previous Nine Eyes countries plus:

Germany

Belgium

Italy

Sweden

Spain

As before, the original surveillance agreement was extended to these other countries. The official name of this group of countries is referred to as SIGINT Seniors Europe (SSEUR).

Additional surveillance partners…

• Israel – Israel must be included when discussing the Five Eyes surveillance partners. As many sources point out, it is one of the closest partners with the US government and the National Security Agency (NSA). Here are a few examples documenting this:

Wikipedia claims Israel is an official “observer” to the Five Eyes alliance

Source – NSA shares raw surveillance data directly with Israel; very close cooperation between US/Israeli surveillance agencies

Source – “Shady Companies with Ties to Israel Wiretap the USA for the NSA”

Source – Israeli authorities yield wider surveillance powers than US authorities

• Singapore, South Korea, and Japan – Singapore and South Korea are also reported to be close partners in the Five Eyes alliance. Japan also appears to be a close surveillance partner with the United States (source; source; source).

~VPN services located in 14 Eyes countries and territories~

Jurisdiction is a big consideration for most people when selecting a trustworthy VPN service. Therefore we will briefly summarize the VPN services that are located in 14 Eyes countries below.

To recap, this list includes VPNs that are located in:

Five Eyes (United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand)

Nine Eyes (Five Eyes + Denmark, France, Netherlands, and Norway)

Fourteen Eyes (Nine Eyes + Germany, Belgium, Italy, Sweden, and Spain)

Additional partners (Israel, Singapore, South Korea, and Japan)….continue for complete list…

https://restoreprivacy.com/5-eyes-9-eyes-14-eyes/

Wizards and warlocks?

Did you know that….

(Christchurch NZ is the only town in the world with its own official "Wizard")

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wizard_of_New_Zealand

…and that the wizard has a website???

https://wizard.gen.nz