Sensitive information obtained in error from the Earthquake Commission and protected by a court injunction was published on a foreign website last night.

Prime Minister John Key says the Government Communications Security Bureau should be able to spy on New Zealanders if the right level of oversight is met. Have your say.

Many wring their hands in despair and call for sanctions for those responsible and for heads to roll, writes Derek Martin. I find this issue something of a yawn fest.

"Why is John Key demeaning himself by leading the chorus of ministers jumping up and down saying accidents will happen?" asks Peter Kerr.

Authorities are to take urgent action to monitor rapidly increasing drone activity after conceding they know of as few as one in 10 unmanned flights.

John Key says privacy breaches like the two revealed in one week at the EQC are inevitable, and they are a result of human error, not systemic failure.

The government's freezing of EQC's email system is unprecedented for an entire organisation, an IT expert says.

Finance companies are forcing customers to sign waivers allowing them to seek private information from dozens of government departments and private companies.

The scale of the US drone programme is such that more pilots are now recruited to fly unmanned aircraft than conventional fighter planes, writes Toby Manhire.

A new change to Instagram policy is putting user information up for sale.

A government employee who was sacked after she accessed client records of Facebook 'friends' has won her job back until a full hearing can be held next year.

A teenager whose private photos have been used without permission to attract bisexual women to a website feels violated and scared.

Banks have united to keep mum on how often they give customer details to police without a warrant.

Privacy Commissioner Marie Shroff has described the Ministry of Social Development as a "megastore of personal details" which needs to lift its game to ensure confidence in the public sector is not harmed.

Editorial: Newspapers around the world have been following Lord Justice Leveson's inquiry into the culture, practices and ethics of Britain's press with close interest.

The Ministry of Social Development is set to roll out new public computers from May next year to replace the kiosks closed after a security hole was revealed in October.

Editorial: Banks need to be more careful about handing over personal information to the police. They must make it their business to assess whether a request constitutes a valid reason for sidelining the Privacy Act.

Banks get daily requests from the police for personal banking information, and one says it is influenced by law enforcement interest when it assesses customers.

Nothing quite singles out a member of the baby-boomer generation from the Xs and Ys as our differing attitudes to privacy, writes Brian Rudman.

Auckland Hospital staff have been called to disciplinary hearings in the breach-of-privacy case involving the man who had an eel removed from inside him.