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.

To share these capabilities with agencies charged with routine law enforcement is to abuse that acceptance, writes Damien Rogers. Part of the problem is that there is no agreed meaning of national security.

Prime Minister John Key has handed the Labour Party an olive branch over the GCSB bill.

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.

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.

Charges that the United States spied on the European Union and three friendly nations have unleashed one of the most public rows in transatlantic history.

Prime Minister John Key has made a second top-level intelligence and security appointment, as a Parliamentary committee starts hearings on the GCSB.

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."

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.

Prime Minister John Key says Labour opposition to the GCSB spy agency amendment bill could prevent New Zealanders being safe in an event like the Boston bombings.

A clean-up of GCSB faults doesn't seem to have happened yet, with another display of "unnecessary silliness" being exposed, writes David Fisher.

The PM said this morning he's open to compromise with NZ First over changes to the country's spying laws, and that he expects Peter Dunne's support too.