Computer Misuse Act facts for kids

The Computer Misuse Act 1990 is a law passed by the British government.

The law has three parts.

In the U.K., it is now a crime to:

• Access a computer without permission.
• Access a computer without permission, hoping to gain access to unauthorized data and you can be jailed for up to 6 months if you live in Scotland and 12 months in the rest of the UK. However, people who do computer fraud, blackmailing through computers, or making computer viruses will get a fine of any amount and be jailed for up to 5 years.

It is very difficult to prove that people have committed any of these offences without proper knowledge and use of I.P addresses so the law has not worked very well. There have been very few successful prosecutions

Related pages

• Computer legislation
• Data Protection Act