Tçnâ koe,

Before we begin processing your request, we require more information to establish your eligibility to make a request under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA).

Per Section 12 of the OIA, to be eligible to make a request you must be:
• a New Zealand citizen
• a permanent resident of New Zealand
• a person who is in New Zealand

Please send documentation that confirms your eligibility to make an OIA request to the email address on this page: https://www.gcsb.govt.nz/information-rel... This could be a scanned copy of a New Zealand driver’s licence or passport or evidence of residency in New Zealand, such as a utility bill with your name/address.

Ngâ mihi,
GCSB and NZSIS

-----Original Message-----
From: B James <[FOI #23593 email]>
Sent: Wednesday, 26 July 2023 2:18 AM
To: Information (GCSB) <[GCSB request email]>
Subject: Official Information request - Surveillance and/or Investigations into Masonic Lodges/Freemasonry in NZ

Dear Government Communications Security Bureau and Security Intelligence Service,

Could you please provide all information regarding any investigations into members of the Freemasons and/or the Masonic Lodges operating within New Zealand. And whether any illegal or subversive activity has been detected within the organization.

Yours faithfully, B. James.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

This is an Official Information request made via the FYI website.

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #23593 email]

Is [GCSB request email] the wrong address for Official Information requests to Government Communications Security Bureau? If so, please contact us using this form:
https://fyi.org.nz/change_request/new?bo...

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers

If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA page.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

This electronic message, together with any attachments, contains information that is provided in confidence and may be subject to legal privilege.
Any classification markings must be adhered to. If you are not the intended recipient, you must not peruse, disclose, disseminate, copy or use the message in
any way. If you have received this message in error, please notify us immediately by return email and then destroy the original message.
The New Zealand Intelligence Community (NZIC) and the departments comprising the NZIC accepts no responsibility for changes to this e-mail, or to any attachments, after its transmission
from NZIC. This communication may be accessed or retained for information assurance purposes. Thank you.

hide quoted sections

Kia ora

 

We ask for assurance that a requester is eligible to make a request under
section 12 of the OIA before proceeding with requests. We do this when we
do not feel that the requester has provided sufficient information to be
assured of their eligibility, and have done so on a number of occasions
for requests made via FYI.org. The requirement to provide assurance is
unrelated to the question being asked.

 

The assurance we seek is that which is enough to make clear that you are a
New Zealand citizen or permanent resident or are in New Zealand. One way
to do this is to provide supporting documentation like a copy of a New
Zealand driver licence, or passport, or utility bill. Another is to tell
us your name and where you are living. You could also assure us that you
are in New Zealand by sending something that substantiates that, like a
photo of that day’s local newspaper. We are flexible in the ways you can
provide us assurance that you are a person eligible to make a request, but
at this stage, we do not consider we have enough information to be
satisfied that you are eligible to make a request.

 

The Ombudsman's guidance states agencies are entitled to make reasonable
enquiries to satisfy themselves that a requester is eligible to make a
request under the OIA
(https://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/site...
- refer page 4). Once a requester has confirmed eligibility, they will not
be asked to do so again (assuming they use the same FYI account).

 

The Ombudsman's guidance and FYI.org also recommends that requesters use a
real name when making a request (https://fyi.org.nz/help/privacy). If you
do not want to provide evidence of your eligibility to make a request to
us directly, you are welcome to contact the Office of the Ombudsman and
provide confirmation of eligibility, or ask FYI.org to make a request on
your behalf (refer Can I make an OIA request using a pseudonym? on 
https://fyi.org.nz/help/privacy).

 

You may complain to the Inspector-General of Security and Intelligence
(IGIS) if you feel you have, or may have been adversely affected by any
act, omission, practice, policy, or procedure of an intelligence and
security agency. The IGIS contact details can be found out:
[1]https://igis.govt.nz/.

 

Ngā mihi

GCSB and NZSIS

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: B James <[FOI #23593 email]>
Sent: Wednesday, 26 July 2023 1:34 PM
To: Information (GCSB) <[GCSB request email]>
Subject: RE: Official Information request - Surveillance and/or
Investigations into Masonic Lodges/Freemasonry in NZ

 

Dear Information (GCSB),

 

1. May I ask specifically why you need me to provide documentation of my
personal identity to answer my question, as many others who requested
information from the GSCB/SIS were not required to do so?

 

2. What was it about the question that prompted such a response?

 

Yours sincerely,

 

B James

 

-----Original Message-----

 

Tçnâ koe,

 

Before we begin processing your request, we require more information to
establish your eligibility to make a request under the Official
Information Act 1982 (OIA).

 

Per Section 12 of the OIA, to be eligible to make a request you must be:

•             a New Zealand citizen

•             a permanent resident of New Zealand

•             a person who is in New Zealand

 

Please send documentation that confirms your eligibility to make an OIA
request to the email address on this page:
[2]https://www.gcsb.govt.nz/information-rel...
This could be a scanned copy of a New Zealand driver’s licence or passport
or evidence of residency in New Zealand, such as a utility bill with your
name/address.

 

Ngâ mihi,

GCSB and NZSIS

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:

[3][FOI #23593 email]

 

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:

[4]https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers

 

If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please
ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA
page.

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

This electronic message, together with any attachments, contains
information that is provided in confidence and may be subject to legal
privilege. Any classification markings must be adhered to. If you are not
the intended recipient, you must not peruse, disclose, disseminate, copy
or use the message in any way. If you have received this message in error,
please notify us immediately by return email and then destroy the original
message.  The New Zealand Intelligence Community (NZIC) and the
departments comprising the NZIC accepts no responsibility for changes to
this e-mail, or to any attachments, after its transmission from NZIC. This
communication may be accessed or retained for information assurance
purposes. Thank you.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

References

Visible links
1. https://igis.govt.nz/
2. https://www.gcsb.govt.nz/information-rel...
3. mailto:[FOI #23593 email]
4. https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers

hide quoted sections

Kia ora

The Ombudsman's guidance states agencies are entitled to make reasonable enquiries to satisfy themselves that a requester is eligible to make a request under the OIA (https://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/site... - refer page 4).

If you do not want to provide evidence of your eligibility to make a request to us directly, you are welcome to contact the Office of the Ombudsman, or ask FYI.org to make a request on your behalf (refer Can I make an OIA request using a pseudonym? on https://fyi.org.nz/help/privacy).

You may complain to the Inspector-General of Security and Intelligence (IGIS) if you feel you have, or may have been adversely affected by any act, omission, practice, policy, or procedure of an intelligence and security agency. The IGIS contact details can be found at: https://igis.govt.nz/.

Ngā mihi
GCSB

-----Original Message-----
From: B James <[FOI #23593 email]>
Sent: Sunday, 13 August 2023 11:33 PM
To: Information (GCSB) <[GCSB request email]>
Subject: RE: Official Information request - Surveillance and/or Investigations into Masonic Lodges/Freemasonry in NZ

Dear Information (GCSB),

"We do this when we do not feel that the requester has provided sufficient information to be assured of their eligibility"

Just for clarification, when inquiries are made under the OIA, are citizens expected to provide proof of their identity when the initial inquiry is made?

Yours sincerely,

B James

-----Original Message-----

Kia ora

 

We ask for assurance that a requester is eligible to make a request under section 12 of the OIA before proceeding with requests. We do this when we do not feel that the requester has provided sufficient information to be assured of their eligibility, and have done so on a number of occasions for requests made via FYI.org. The requirement to provide assurance is unrelated to the question being asked.

 

The assurance we seek is that which is enough to make clear that you are a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident or are in New Zealand. One way to do this is to provide supporting documentation like a copy of a New Zealand driver licence, or passport, or utility bill. Another is to tell us your name and where you are living. You could also assure us that you are in New Zealand by sending something that substantiates that, like a photo of that day’s local newspaper. We are flexible in the ways you can provide us assurance that you are a person eligible to make a request, but at this stage, we do not consider we have enough information to be satisfied that you are eligible to make a request.

 

The Ombudsman's guidance states agencies are entitled to make reasonable enquiries to satisfy themselves that a requester is eligible to make a request under the OIA (https://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/site...
- refer page 4). Once a requester has confirmed eligibility, they will not be asked to do so again (assuming they use the same FYI account).

 

The Ombudsman's guidance and FYI.org also recommends that requesters use a real name when making a request (https://fyi.org.nz/help/privacy). If you do not want to provide evidence of your eligibility to make a request to us directly, you are welcome to contact the Office of the Ombudsman and provide confirmation of eligibility, or ask FYI.org to make a request on your behalf (refer Can I make an OIA request using a pseudonym? on https://fyi.org.nz/help/privacy).

 

You may complain to the Inspector-General of Security and Intelligence
(IGIS) if you feel you have, or may have been adversely affected by any act, omission, practice, policy, or procedure of an intelligence and security agency. The IGIS contact details can be found out:
[1]https://igis.govt.nz/.

 

Ngā mihi

GCSB and NZSIS

 

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #23593 email]

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers

If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA page.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

This electronic message, together with any attachments, contains information that is provided in confidence and may be subject to legal privilege.
Any classification markings must be adhered to. If you are not the intended recipient, you must not peruse, disclose, disseminate, copy or use the message in
any way. If you have received this message in error, please notify us immediately by return email and then destroy the original message.
The New Zealand Intelligence Community (NZIC) and the departments comprising the NZIC accepts no responsibility for changes to this e-mail, or to any attachments, after its transmission
from NZIC. This communication may be accessed or retained for information assurance purposes. Thank you.

hide quoted sections