The second half of the Government's rejig of spying laws passed its third reading yesterday.

The National Security Agency operates in close co-operation with four other English-speaking countries - Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand - sharing raw intelligence, funding, technical systems and personnel.

The diplomatic fallout from continuing disclosures about America's vast global spy network has begun descending on Australia after revelations that its foreign embassies are being used to intercept sensitive communications.

A USB stick with sensitive information about 1200 clients of a life insurance company has been stolen from an employee's car.

United States officials claim the White House only discovered the National Security Agency was spying on world leaders in the middle of the year.

Europe's leaders have turned their wrath on the United States, condemning as unacceptable the alleged "out of control" spying on citizens and governments.

Barack Obama has spoken to France's President Francois Hollande as a row rages over claims that a US spy agency eavesdropped on millions of phone calls of French citizens.

Vodafone has sent some of its staff a warning about delving into records after the Herald's hunt for the sender of a threatening text to Bevan Chuang.

Internet giants' plea for exemption fails to convince Communications Minister.

The Government has backed down over a clause in a controversial spying bill which could have seen companies like Microsoft banned from offering services in NZ.

Facebook is getting rid of a privacy feature that lets users limit who can find them on the social network.

Almost 100,000 Kiwis have had personal details accidentally released under National, says Labour leader.

Millions of pieces of private information about New Zealanders are being shared between state departments - and that's set to be increased, a Herald investigation finds.

Over 30 new agreements are being explored between government agencies to share information about hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders.

Smartphones have become the number one target for hackers trying to cheat New Zealanders, says a Kiwi academic who has been studying global trends.

The Privacy Commissioner has been consulted on the possibility of using identification numbers attached to preschoolers as a way to track and punish parents.

For almost three years the National Security Agency has been tapping the data it collects to map out some Americans' social connections.

The Government has acknowledged international criticism of its new law around online state surveillance but Google says it has failed to address those concerns.

Kiwi Bank was today red-faced after discovering that highly confidential documents had been handed across the counter to a member of the public at the Greymouth branch.

The Earthquake Commission has admitted to another breach of privacy after information on up to 260 claimants was sent to the wrong customers.

Kiwis eagerly awaiting today's iPhone announcement may see a low-cost version of the popular device, says a telco expert.

Former SAS commando Barrie Rice has been a bodyguard for the Sultan of Brunei's family, a security contractor for Blackwater in Iraq and now teaches gun skills to Hollywood actors.

United Future leader Peter Dunne hopes a new investigation will reveal exactly who accessed his email records during the GCSB leak inquiry.