NZ customs officers now have the power to demand passwords to digital devices

In recent years tourists have flocked to New Zealand to see sights that include a 505 hectares working sheep farm on North Island that became Hobbiton, the home of the hobbits in JRR Tolkien's fantasy land, Middle Earth.

When you think of countries with aggressive border security, the bucolic land which provided the backdrop for the Peter Jackson-directed Lord of the Rings trilogy may not come to mind.

But this week the New Zealand Customs Service received new powers at the country's borders, including the ability to demand passwords from travellers to search their electronic devices if they are suspected of committing a customs offence, in what amounts to a digital strip-search.