If the USA spy organisation, the National Security Agency, is working from a surveillance centre in Northland its whereabouts is - quite fittingly - a secret.
The Northland allegation was made by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden at Kim Dotcom's Moment of Truth show in Auckland on Monday night.
Snowden told the audience: "There are actually NSA facilities in New Zealand. One of them is in Auckland, another is in the north of the country."
It is not known whether a spy base capable of surveilling all and any New Zealanders' emails and other electronic communications would require a large, complex facility - such as the Warkworth Satellite Station from which to operate - a small shed or just a desktop.
One informant who cannot be named told the Northern Advocate she thought the "base" could be a single operative with a smart phone, living a double life in Whangarei and largely out of a job now the trans-Pacific IT cable from USA into Northland had stalled.