The NZ Privacy Commissioner would subsequently find that the check-point breached the privacy of the Exit members at the lunch. The Police Independent Conduct Authority would rule the check-point illegal. See: http://bit.ly/NZHeraldReport
Lesson No 2 - Only use encrypted email such as Protonmail. As we all know, open email is akin to a noticeboard. Its contents are there for general consumption. Email is not a confidential means of communication. Only encrypted email is private. However, even a provider may be subpoenaed by a court to provide email records to a court. Sometimes it’s best not to put anything incriminating in writing.
Lesson No 3 - Your phone is definitely not the best means of communication if you are talking about legally sensitive issues. If you need to speak about something delicate, the very least you should do to protect your privacy is use a secure app such as ‘Signal’ on your phone.
Lesson No 4 - Sensitive conversation? Meet in person in a public place. In terms of having your house bugged, it is by far safest to talk about sensitive issues at a local cafe or shopping mall. Somewhere that cannot be bugged (at least not easily).
Other actions undertaken by the Police in the months prior to Suzy being charged included Police visits (known as ‘wellness checks’) to Exit members in the Wellington area. Some of the Exit members who were visited by the Police were convinced to hand over their private stash of Nembutal. While some initially refused arguing why should they part with their ‘safety net’, in other cases the shock of the visit was enough to scare people into ‘fessing up’. In all cases, the Police wellness checks caused considerable stress and anxiety.