Hundreds of passport applicants have had their email addresses shared with other applicants in another government privacy botch-up.

Scammers are using scantily clad women as bait to entice Kiwi men into "compromising positions" during online video chat sessions - then blackmailing them.

The path to improvement for Prime Minister John Key's malfunctioning spy agency appears to have frozen, a progress report shows.

I have a game I want you to play. I want you to imagine yourself 20 years ago.

Telecom's Yahoo Xtra email service has been in the news lately, for disappointing reasons.

Phone hacking was an "open secret" on the editorial floor of the News of the World and former editor Andy Coulson knew "exactly what went on on his watch", a jury at the Old Bailey heard.

The departing Privacy Commissioner has issued a stern warning over the growing threat posed by big data entities, and underlined the need for her office to have more power to keep them in check.

I'd wager that the PR hacks of the established political parties are looking at the media scrum surrounding Kim Dotcom's political party with envy, writes Pat Pilcher.

Julie Gayet, the actress thought to be having an affair with French President Francois Hollande, is reported to be pregnant.

How many more email outages, hacks and other screw ups need to happen before Telecom finally brings Xtra email back in-house?

"Megaupload knowing created and and facilitated the distribution of stolen property." The FBI does a tell-all interview on TV's 60 Minutes.

Solid Energy's random drug and alcohol tests nabbed 28 offenders in the year to July, more than a third less than the previous year.

Privacy watchdogs are worried about intrusive new 'reverse search' websites that allow users to type in a street address and discover who lives there.

Editorial: If the IRD is known for unilateral and unexplained actions against its targets, Customs inhabits a peculiar twilight zone at the border.

A detailed account of the evidence against Kim Dotcom has been released by the FBI to allow so-called victims of alleged piracy to claim against his seized fortune.

Customs has refused to answer questions about an email asking staff to send information on Kim Dotcom to the FBI in exchange for "brownie points".

A joint report by the Chief Ombudsman and the Privacy Commission is scathing of how EQC has dragged its feet over information requests from quake homeowners.

The "secrets-for-brownie points" case has been escalated to Customs Minister Maurice Williamson - but he says it has nothing to do with him.

A senior Customs official told colleagues in charge of highly personal information they could earn "brownie points"if they passed secrets to the FBI.

Customs has returned all the electronic gear stripped from a backpacker at the border, saying it found nothing on his computer.

A backpacker coming home for Christmas had every bit of electronic equipment stripped from him at the airport.