The controversial GCSB bill has the numbers to pass in Parliament after United Future leader Peter Dunne secured some significant changes.

There are at present two standalone intelligence agencies - the Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS) and the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB).

Former Foreign Minister Phil Goff says "tweaking" of the GCSB bill by John Key won't be enough to overcome the suspicions of a wide cross-section of Kiwis.

How would these so-called experts feel if their attitudes paved the way for the extermination of all the world's kittens by masked terrorist gangs, asks Toby Manhire.

Privacy Commissioner Marie Shroff is calling for a delay in the passage of the GCSB legislation.

The head of the Human Rights Commission says Prime Minister John Key has misrepresented its highly critical report on his two controversial spy bills and wider surveillance issues.

John Key appears to have made another concession over the bill expanding GCSB powers - this time requiring it to have regard to the Bill of Rights Act.

Internal Affairs Minister and Napier MP Chris Tremain has requested a report into how a British killer managed to obtain a New Zealand passport issued in the name of a severely brain-damaged Hastings man.

Rodney Hide writes: Such a lot of nonsense has been spouted about the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) that it's difficult to know where to start.

France's Government spies on its own citizens in the same way as the United States, it was claimed yesterday.

Several correspondents have taken me to task for presuming to speculate on what writer George Orwell of Animal Farm and 1984 fame would have made of American whistleblower Edward Snowden.

Here are 10 simple ways you can minimise the likelihood of the NSA (and other organisations) monitoring your internet and voice traffic.

Any traveller who has experienced a glacier-slow wait in an international transit lounge might have some sympathy for American defector Edward Snowden.

John Key last night described Kim Dotcom as a 'conspiracy theorist' after he claimed the PM knew about him before the January 2012 raid.

German internet tycoon Kim Dotcom says Prime Minister John Key is lying about what he knew about him before police raided his Coatesville home in January 2012. Video / Mark Mitchell

A crucial term in the GCSB amendment bill was singled out for clarification yesterday by Appeal Court Judge Sir Grant Hammond.

Under the promise of protection we surrender privacy, writes Chris Barton. Once given up, it's a freedom we may never get back.

Civil libertarians and privacy rights activists have legitimate reason to oppose the GCSB bill in its present form, writes Paul Buchanan. "The definition of threat to national security under which the GCSB would act is too nebulous."

It appears our biggest domestic terror threat is either Tame Iti's training camps or Dotcom's (alleged) copyright infringements.

Scaremongering by uninformed commentators has not helped a balanced and considered debate take place, writes Rhys Ball. "Spying is intrusive and it is important."

A new law which could see internet giants like Microsoft, Apple, Facebook and Google forced to open up their systems to NZ's spy agencies is 'unworkable'.

Labour's Trevor Mallard says United Future leader Peter Dunne should not have his funding restored even if his party re-registers.

A majority of voters want an inquiry into the GCSB spy agency and the SIS, the latest Herald DigiPoll survey shows.

After relying on questionable advice about the legality of its spying on kiwis over the last decade, spy agency the GCSB is looking for new legal advisers.

Editorial: We need systems of oversight and accountability that are much more robust and open to independent review.