New laws to allow spying on New Zealand citizens is a step towards totalitarianism, says a professor of cyber security and forensics.

One of the men accused of assaulting cricketer Jesse Ryder has chosen to fight the charges and has elected to stand trial by jury, a court has been told.

The GCSB never reported their inability to read and they didn't ask politicians to change or "clarify" the legislation, writes John Minto. For 10 years they simply ignored it and only came unstuck

The West Coast District Health Board has admitted it can't be sure its clinicians have always followed the rules for accessing patient files.

A permanent injunction against the publication of sensitive Earthquake Commission information might not be possible after it was posted online, a legal expert says.

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.

"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.

Another government agency has apologised for another privacy breach.

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.

To be a truly free and democratic society there must be respect for the autonomy of individuals, writes Tim McBride. and limits on the activities of both state and private agencies which may intrude on that autonomy.

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.