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Prime Minister John Key has given an assurance that the Government Communications Security Bureau does not collect metadata on New Zealanders and share it with foreign intelligence partners.
An article published by the Guardian Australia says that at a meeting in 2008, Australia's Defence Signals Directorate offered to share its metadata on ordinary Australians with the United States, Britain, Canada and New Zealand.
The article, based on documents leaked by fugitive US whistleblower Edward Snowden, prompted Mr Key to ring Government Communications Security Bureau director Ian Fletcher about the matter.
Mr Key said on Monday he sought and got an assurance from Mr Fletcher that the GCSB has not collected metadata on New Zealanders, let alone offered to share it with other spy agencies. He said it would be illegal for the bureau to do so.