NZ PM rejects Snowden’s spying claims

Fugitive whistleblower Edward Snowden's claims that the GCSB carries out mass surveillance inside New Zealander are "simply wrong", Prime Minister John Key says.

Fugitive whistleblower Edward Snowden's claims that the GCSB carries out mass surveillance inside New Zealander are "simply wrong", Prime Minister John Key says.

"There is not, and never has been, mass surveillance of New Zealanders undertaken by the GCSB," he said after Snowden, a former US National Security Agency (NSA) analyst, published his claims on The Intercept website.

They're part of the "Moment of Truth" revelations Kim Dotcom is about to announce in Auckland.

"If you live in New Zealand, you are being watched," Snowden wrote.

"At the NSA I routinely came across the communications of New Zealanders in my work with a mass surveillance tool we share with the GCSB, called XKEYSCORE.

"It allows total, granular access to the database of communications collected in the course of mass surveillance. It is not limited to or even used largely for the purposes of cybersecurity, as has been claimed, but is instead used primarily for reading individuals' private email, text messages, and internet traffic."

Mr Key, who has always denied the GCSB carries out mass surveillance or does anything outside the law, says he's setting the record straight.

"I believe New Zealanders deserve better than getting half of a story, embellished for dramatic effect and political gain, and based on incomplete information," he said in a statement after Snowden had published his claims.

"The GCSB undertakes cyber security operations to protect individual public and private sector entities from the increasing threat of cyber attack."

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NZ PM rejects Snowden's spying claims