Is this a crime?

suited-aces

Fonz wrote: »

I'd say most certainly a crime under the computer misuse act. It carries a maximum sentence of 5 years...


modification of computer material
(1) A person is guilty of an offence if—
(a) he does any act which causes an unauthorised modification of the contents of any computer; and
(b) at the time when he does the act he has the requisite intent and the requisite knowledge.
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1)(b) above the requisite intent is an intent to cause a modification of the contents of any computer and by so doing—
(a) to impair the operation of any computer;
(b) to prevent or hinder access to any program or data held in any computer; or
(c) to impair the operation of any such program or the reliability of any such data.
(3) The intent need not be directed at—
(a) any particular computer;
(b) any particular program or data or a program or data of any particular kind; or
(c) any particular modification or a modification of any particular kind.
(4) For the purposes of subsection (1)(b) above the requisite knowledge is knowledge that any modification he intends to cause is unauthorised.
(5) It is immaterial for the purposes of this section whether an unauthorised modification or any intended effect of it of a kind mentioned in subsection (2) above is, or is intended to be, permanent or merely temporary.

:T Hope he finds this out!

negg

It is certainly a crime. It doesn't even matter if they were given the password.

Think of it like this - you leave your door unlocked and wide open and go out. Someone comes in and steals all your stuff. The thief has still committed the crime regardless of how silly you were to leave the door unlocked and open.

Mrs_Imp

Hahaha. I'm glad it's not just me then. Or have you all been out with the same person I did?

He asked me to check his e-mails while his computer was broken, which I did. Found a suspiscious one, so e-miled her and asked who she was. She told me that he'd said we were finished. He denied it all and I almost believed him. He then changed his password, but not his security question, so it was a doddle to get back in a few months later. Found out he was seeing someone else, was e-mailing a second girl, and had registered with an online dating agency. So I visited the site, ammended his details so they were correct (he lied about his age and job), and used the 'suggest a friend' option to suggest the other woman. So then she'd get an e-mail saying '**** suggested you'd like to use this site'. I then changed his e-mail password to w****r

Hell hath no fury etc.

As valos_mummy says, had I not seen that info, I might've been with him longer.

Can't really see the police being interested to be honest. He'll have to prove that she did it, he didn't want her to do it and that it was deliberate rather than accidental. If she feels badly enough, then she needs to bite the bullet and appologise to him and show that she's better than he is.

Fonz_2

Unfortunately the police don't have much of a say if a crime is reported. Quite the opposite actually - if a crime is reported, it's very much in their interests to investigate and prosecute for that crime to aid their detection rates.

If he's serious... you're in the doo doo.

Pee

I am surprised that everyone else thinks it is so funny... well, it is funny, but it is also a crime and I think if it was reported to the Police they would come round and have a word. Worst case scenario it's a presumably first offence so I can't see her getting into too much trouble.

suited-aces

Pee, they only see it as funny because of some sort of sisterhood thing.

Bitsy_Beans

suited-aces wrote: »

Pee, they only see it as funny because of some sort of sisterhood thing.

Erm no I think most people like to think of it as payback.

Am curious. Do you think he's done wrong by his GF by shagging about behind her back? Granted deleting his emails isn't the most mature of responses but it certainly isn't the worst. Why do these threads turn into a suggestion that all female users of MSE are male hating harpies?

Fonz_2

[I'm a bloke] Of course he's done wrong - he's clearly an enormous cretin and no doubt we'll see him in the midst of a glorious DNA test on the Jeremy Kyle show at some point in the future.

What he did wasn't illegal though and the general theme of the thread is that he has done something which is morally very wrong, whilst she has possibly made a silly mistake by doing something which is wrong in a criminal sense.

spendaholic

In response to the OP's original question, and as a someone that has to work to a code of conduct, I do believe it is illegal to tamper with someone's email. It is also considered highly immoral.

HOWEVER, I'm sure that even if he did report it, nothing would be done about it other than what has already been said, even if tongue in cheek.

I also think he'd need to prove that she did the deleting - he could have done it himself.

A lot of people mistakenly believe that they can't get done for stuff online that they would be done for in real time/life. That may have been the case when the internet first arrived, but there is more protection in place these days.

Fonz_2

With regards to proof - this is really easy when the police start to investigate. Microsoft will cough up the logs which show her internet connection being used to perform this action.