A political activist is accusing the Privacy Commissioner of upholding illegal spying carried out by the Government Communications Security Bureau.

A report released in April this year on the GCSB showed as many as 88 people may have been monitored unlawfully.

Valerie Morse says she approached the GCSB and then the Privacy Commissioner to find out if she was one of the 88 who had been spied upon.

She says neither would confirm or deny her suspicions and she describes the commissioner's oversight as a sick joke.

The Privacy Commissioner is not making any comment on the matter.