Chapter 15Business propertymaterial and in the reasonable belief that their actions
were justified as being in the public interest.
2 The Information Commissioner acquires new powers
to impose monetary penalties on data controllers who
deliberately or recklessly breach the data protection prin-
ciples and the contravention is of a kind likely to cause
substantial damage or distress.
Computer misuse
The Computer Misuse Act 1990, which came into force
on 29 August 1990, creates three criminal offences to
deal with the misuse of computers. The offences are as
follows:
1 Unauthorised access to computer material.It is an
offence knowingly to cause a computer to perform any
function with intent to secure unauthorised access to
programs or data held in a computer. This basic offence
is designed to criminalise the activities of both outside
‘hackers’ who obtain access to computers using the pub-
lic telecommunications system and insiders who know-
ingly exceed the limits of their authority. The offence is
triable summarily and is punishable by a maximum of
six months’ imprisonment or a fine of £5,000.
2 Unauthorised access with intent to commit or facil-
itate commission of further offences.It is an offence
triable either by magistrates or in the Crown Court to
commit the basic unauthorised access offence with in-
tent to commit or facilitate the commission of any
serious offence for which the sentence is fixed by law or
where the maximum sentence could be five years or more.
These serious crimes would include theft and blackmail.
This offence would cover a ‘hacker’ who obtains unau-
thorised access to a computer in order to hijack funds
in the course of an electronic funds transfer. The max-
imum penalty for this offence if convicted on indictment
is five years’ imprisonment or an unlimited fine.
3 Unauthorised modification of computer material.
It is an offence intentionally to cause the unauthorised
modification of the contents of any computer with intent
to impair a computer’s operation, or to prevent or hin-
der access to any program or data held in any computer,
or impair the operation of any such program or the reli-
ability of any such data. This offence is designed to cover
interference with computer programs and data such as
the deletion or alteration of material or the introduction
of computer viruses. The offence is triable either by
magistrates or in the Crown Court where the maximum
penalty is five years’ imprisonment or an unlimited fine.
The Act also takes into account the international
dimension of computer crime by giving UK courts wide
jurisdiction to hear cases, provided that there is some
connection between the offender’s activities and the
UK, and by making provision for extradition for these
offences.Freedom of information
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 requires every
public authority to put in place a publication scheme to
be approved by the Information Commissioner which
identifies the information available from the authority
and how it can be obtained. From 1 January 2005 indi-
viduals have had the right to make a request for in-
formation held by a public authority, subject to certain
exemptions, e.g. information relating to national secur-
ity or information given in confidence. Authorities must
supply the requested information within 20 days, unless
the information is exempt. The authority may make a
charge for providing the information, subject to a max-
imum fee which is set by regulation. If an individual
does not pay the fee within three months, the request for
information lapses. Public authorities include central
and local government, police and prosecution services,
the health service and education organisations, e.g. col-
leges and universities. The Information Commissioner
may issue the following notices:1 A decision notice: a person who has made a request
for information may apply for a decision as to whether
his request has been dealt with by the public authority in
accordance with Part I of the Act.2 An information notice: requires a public authority to
provide specified information.3 An enforcement notice:requires a public authority
to comply with the requirement to provide information.Complainants and public authorities can appeal to
the Information Tribunal against a decision notice and a
public authority can appeal to the Information Tribunal
against an enforcement notice.449