Computer Misuse Act 1990

The Computer Misuse Act 1990 (c. 18) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was made after Robert Schifreen and Stephen Gold hacked into British Telecom's Prestel viewdata service in 1984-1985. They were even able to see personal messages of Prince Philip, but they could not be prosecuted as there were no laws against hacking. This was a problem, as people could hack into systems and see personal data without breaking the law, which was why the Computer Misuse Act was made.

Some people did not like the act, saying it was made too quickly and not given much thought. The act did not make a difference between people who hacked for fun from people who hacked to steal data or money. Other countries have made their acts for hacking using parts of the Computer Misuse Act, such as Canada and the Republic of Ireland.IISS Global Perspectives – Power in Cyberspace. Q&A with Nigel Inkster, Director, Transnational Threats and Political Risk, IISS. 18 January 2011. It has been amended many times since 1990 to keep it up to date.

Related pages
 Computer legislation
 Data Protection Act

References

Category:Data protection
Category:1990s Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom