Government Communications Security Bureau

Government Communications Security Bureau
Te Tira Tiaki
Agency overview
Formed1977; 47 years ago (1977)
JurisdictionNew Zealand Government
HeadquartersPipitea House, 1–15 Pipitea Street, Wellington
41°16′32″S 174°46′52″E / 41.2756572°S 174.7811653°E / -41.2756572; 174.7811653
Employees400 employees
Annual budgetIncrease NZ$212 million (2021–22)[1]
Minister responsible
Agency executive
Websitegcsb.govt.nz

The Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) (Māori: Te Tira Tiaki) is the public-service department of New Zealand charged with promoting New Zealand's national security by collecting and analysing information of an intelligence nature. The GCSB is considered to be New Zealand's most powerful intelligence agency,[2][3] and has been alleged to have conducted more espionage and data collection than the country's primary intelligence agency, the less funded NZSIS.[4] This has at times proven controversial, although the GCSB does not have the baggage of criticism attached to it for a perceived failure to be effective like the NZSIS does.[5][6][7] The GCSB is considered an equivalent of GCHQ in the United Kingdom or the NSA in the United States.[8]

According to the Bureau's official website, it has a mission of contributing to the national security of New Zealand by providing information assurance and cybersecurity, foreign intelligence, and assistance to other New Zealand government agencies.[9]

  1. ^ "Total Appropriations for Each Vote". Budget 2021/22. The Treasury. 20 May 2021.
  2. ^ "Former GSCB head on Snowden claims about mass surveillance". RNZ. 16 September 2014. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  3. ^ "GSCB says it's in clear - Inspector-General says maybe". RNZ. 21 May 2013. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  4. ^ Patterson, Jane (11 March 2015). "GCSB: 'We do not do that'". RNZ. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  5. ^ "The wrong people have been under surveillance - Marama Davidson". Māori Television. 17 March 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  6. ^ "Sinking the Rainbow Warrior". nzhistory.govt.nz. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  7. ^ "At home with the Mossad men - New Zealand News". NZ Herald. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  8. ^ "Oversight of intelligence agencies: a comparison of the Five Eyes nations". Parliament of Australia. 15 December 2017. Archived from the original on 5 March 2022. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
  9. ^ "Our work". Retrieved 10 October 2015.