Was it legal for my spouse to download spyware to my laptop to spy on me?
Full Question:
My husband downloaded spyware on my personal laptop without my knowledge. He used that personal information to blackmail my lover, threatening to tell his wife, his adult children, his employer and his parents. The 'payment' was that my lover never contact me again in any way. Is it legal for him to do this to me and to my lover?
01/22/2009 |
Category: Internet |
State: Georgia |
#15044
Answer:
Blackmail is the crime of threatening to reveal embarrassing, disgraceful or damaging information about a person to the public, family, spouse or associates unless money is paid to purchase silence. It is a form of extortion. Because the information is usually substantially true, it is not revealing the information that is criminal, but demanding money to withhold it. Blackmail has been defined in the broad sense to mean "compelling someone to act against their will or gaining or attempting to gain something of value." Courts vary on interpreting what "something of value" includes, but it is not necessarily a money payment in all cases.
Hacking is the deliberate and unauthorized access, use, disclosure, and/or taking of electronic data on a computer and is covered under federal and varied state criminal statutes. The computer crime of hacking is committed when a person willfully, knowingly, and without authorization or without reasonable grounds to believe that he or she has such authorization, attempts or achieves access, communication, examination, or modification of data, computer programs, or supporting documentation residing or existing internal or external to a computer, computer system, or computer network. Hacking may also occur when a person willfully, knowingly, and without authorization or without reasonable grounds to believe that he or she has such authorization, destroys data, computer programs, or supporting documentation residing or existing internal or external to a computer, computer system, or computer network. Besides the destruction of such data, hacking may also be defined to include the disclosure, use or taking of the data.
The following are Georgia statutes:
16-8-1. As used in this article, the term:
As used in this article, the term:
(1) "Deprive" means, without justification:
(A) To withhold property of another permanently or temporarily; or
(B) To dispose of the property so as to make it unlikely that the
owner will recover it.
(2) "Financial institution" means a bank, insurance company, credit
union, building and loan association, investment trust, or other
organization held out to the public as a place of deposit of funds or
medium of savings or collective investment.
(3) "Property of another" includes property in which any person other
than the accused has an interest but does not include property belonging
to the spouse of an accused or to them jointly.
16-8-16. (a) A person commits the offense of theft by extortion when he....
(a) A person commits the offense of theft by extortion when he
unlawfully obtains property of or from another person by threatening to:
(1) Inflict bodily injury on anyone or commit any other criminal
offense;
(2) Accuse anyone of a criminal offense;
(3) Disseminate any information tending to subject any person to
hatred, contempt, or ridicule or to impair his credit or business
repute;
(4) Take or withhold action as a public official or cause an official
to take or withhold action;
(5) Bring about or continue a strike, boycott, or other collective
unofficial action if the property is not demanded or received for the
benefit of the group in whose interest the actor purports to act; or
(6) Testify or provide information or withhold testimony or information
with respect to another's legal claim or defense.
(b) In a prosecution under this Code section, the crime shall be
considered as having been committed in the county in which the threat was
made or received or in the county in which the property was unlawfully
obtained.
(c) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution based on paragraph
(2), (3), (4), or (6) of subsection (a) of this Code section that the
property obtained by threat of accusation, exposure, legal action, or
other invocation of official action was honestly claimed as restitution
or indemnification for harm done in the circumstance to which such
accusation, exposure, legal action, or other official action relates or
as compensation for property or lawful services.
(d) A person convicted of the offense of theft by extortion shall be
punished by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than ten years.
16-9-92. As used in this article, the term:
As used in this article, the term:
(1) "Computer" means an electronic, magnetic, optical, hydraulic,
electrochemical, or organic device or group of devices which, pursuant to
a computer program, to human instruction, or to permanent instructions
contained in the device or group of devices, can automatically perform
computer operations with or on computer data and can communicate the
results to another computer or to a person. The term includes any
connected or directly related device, equipment, or facility which
enables the computer to store, retrieve, or communicate computer
programs, computer data, or the results of computer operations to or from
a person, another computer, or another device. This term specifically
includes, but is not limited to, mail servers and e-mail networks. This
term does not include a device that is not used to communicate with or to
manipulate any other computer.
(2) "Computer network" means a set of related, remotely connected
computers and any communications facilities with the function and
purpose of transmitting data among them through the communications
facilities.
(3) "Computer operation" means computing, classifying, transmitting,
receiving, retrieving, originating, switching, storing, displaying,
manifesting, measuring, detecting, recording, reproducing, handling,
or utilizing any form of data for business, scientific, control, or
other purposes.
(4) "Computer program" means one or more statements or instructions
composed and structured in a form acceptable to a computer that, when
executed by a computer in actual or modified form, cause the computer to
perform one or more computer operations. The term "computer program" shall
include all associated procedures and documentation, whether or not such
procedures and documentation are in human readable form.
(5) "Data" includes any representation of information, intelligence, or
data in any fixed medium, including documentation, computer printouts,
magnetic storage media, punched cards, storage in a computer, or
transmission by a computer network.
(6) "Electronic communication" means any transfer of signs, signals,
writing, images, sounds, data, or intelligence of any nature transmitted
in whole or in part by a wire, radio, electromagnetic, photoelectronic,
or photo-optical system that affects interstate or foreign commerce, but
does not include:
(A) Any wire or oral communication;
(B) Any communication made through a tone-only paging device;
(C) Any communication from a tracking device; or
(D) Electronic funds transfer information stored by a financial
institution in a communications system used for the electronic storage
and transfer of funds.
(7) "Electronic communication service" means any service which provides
to its users the ability to send or receive wire or electronic
communications.
(8) "Electronic communications system" means any wire, radio,
electromagnetic, photoelectronic, photo-optical, or facilities for the
transmission of wire or electronic communications, and any computer
facilities or related electronic equipment for the electronic storage of
such communications.
(9) "Electronic means" is any device or apparatus which can be used to
intercept a wire, oral, or electronic communication other than:
(A) Any telephone or telegraph instrument, equipment, or facility, or
any component thereof,
(i) Furnished to the subscriber or user by a provider of electronic
communication service in the ordinary course of its business and used
by the subscriber or user in the ordinary course of its business or
furnished by such subscriber or user for connection to the facilities
of such service and used in the ordinary course of its business; or
(ii) Used by a provider of electronic communication service in the
ordinary course of its business or by an investigative or law enforcement
officer in the ordinary course of his or her duties; or
(B) A hearing aid or similar device being used to correct subnormal
hearing to better than normal.
(10) "Electronic storage" means:
(A) Any temporary, intermediate storage of wire or electronic
communication incidental to its electronic transmission; and
(B) Any storage of such communication by an electronic communication
service for purposes of backup protection of such communication.
(11) "Financial instruments" includes any check, draft, money order,
note, certificate of deposit, letter of credit, bill of exchange,
credit or debit card, transaction-authorizing mechanism, or marketable
security, or any computer representation thereof.
(12) "Law enforcement unit" means any law enforcement officer charged
with the duty of enforcing the criminal laws and ordinances of the state
or of the counties or municipalities of the state who is employed by and
compensated by the state or any county or municipality of the state or
who is elected and compensated on a fee basis. The term shall include,
but not be limited to, members of the Department of Public Safety,
municipal police, county police, sheriffs, deputy sheriffs, and agents
and investigators of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
(13) "Property" includes computers, computer networks, computer
programs, data, financial instruments, and services.
(14) "Remote computing service" means the provision to the public of
computer storage or processing services by means of an electronic
communications system.
(15) "Services" includes computer time or services or data processing
services.
(16) "Use" includes causing or attempting to cause:
(A) A computer or computer network to perform or to stop performing
computer operations;
(B) The obstruction, interruption, malfunction, or denial of the use
of a computer, computer network, computer program, or data; or
(C) A person to put false information into a computer.
(17) "Victim expenditure" means any expenditure reasonably and
necessarily incurred by the owner to verify that a computer, computer
network, computer program, or data was or was not altered, deleted,
damaged, or destroyed by unauthorized use.
(18) "Without authority" includes the use of a computer or computer
network in a manner that exceeds any right or permission granted by
the owner of the computer or computer network.
16-9-93. (a) Computer theft. Any person who uses a computer or....
(a) Computer theft. Any person who uses a computer or computer network
with knowledge that such use is without authority and with the intention
of:
(1) Taking or appropriating any property of another, whether or not
with the intention of depriving the owner of possession;
(2) Obtaining property by any deceitful means or artful practice; or
(3) Converting property to such person's use in violation of an
agreement or other known legal obligation to make a specified application
or disposition of such property shall be guilty of the crime of computer
theft.
(b) Computer Trespass. Any person who uses a computer or computer
network with knowledge that such use is without authority and with the
intention of:
(1) Deleting or in any way removing, either temporarily or
permanently, any computer program or data from a computer or computer
network;
(2) Obstructing, interrupting, or in any way interfering with the use
of a computer program or data; or
(3) Altering, damaging, or in any way causing the malfunction of a
computer, computer network, or computer program, regardless of how
long the alteration, damage, or malfunction persists shall be guilty
of the crime of computer trespass.
(c) Computer Invasion of Privacy. Any person who uses a computer or
computer network with the intention of examining any employment,
medical, salary, credit, or any other financial or personal data relating
to any other person with knowledge that such examination is without
authority shall be guilty of the crime of computer invasion of privacy.
(d) Computer Forgery. Any person who creates, alters, or deletes any
data contained in any computer or computer network, who, if such person
had created, altered, or deleted a tangible document or instrument would
have committed forgery under Article 1 of this chapter, shall be guilty
of the crime of computer forgery. The absence of a tangible writing
directly created or altered by the offender shall not be a defense to the
crime of computer forgery if a creation, alteration, or deletion of data
was involved in lieu of a tangible document or instrument.
(e) Computer Password Disclosure. Any person who discloses a number,
code, password, or other means of access to a computer or computer
network knowing that such disclosure is without authority and which
results in damages (including the fair market value of any services used
and victim expenditure) to the owner of the computer or computer network
in excess of $500.00 shall be guilty of the crime of computer password
disclosure.
(f) Article not Exclusive. The provisions of this article shall not be
construed to preclude the applicability of any other law which presently
applies or may in the future apply to any transaction or course of conduct
which violates this article.
(g) Civil Relief; Damages.
(1) Any person whose property or person is injured by reason of a
violation of any provision of this article may sue therefor and recover
for any damages sustained and the costs of suit. Without limiting the
generality of the term, "damages" shall include loss of profits and
victim expenditure.
(2) At the request of any party to an action brought pursuant to this
Code section, the court shall by reasonable means conduct all legal
proceedings in such a way as to protect the secrecy and security of
any computer, computer network, data, or computer program involved in
order to prevent possible recurrence of the same or a similar act by
another person and to protect any trade secrets of any party.
(3) The provisions of this article shall not be construed to limit any
person's right to pursue any additional civil remedy otherwise allowed
by law.
(4) A civil action under this Code section must be brought within four
years after the violation is discovered or by exercise of reasonable
diligence should have been discovered. For purposes of this article, a
continuing violation of any one subsection of this Code section by any
person constitutes a single violation by such person.
(h) Criminal Penalties.
(1) Any person convicted of the crime of computer theft, computer
trespass, computer invasion of privacy, or computer forgery shall be
fined not more than $50,000.00 or imprisoned not more than 15 years,
or both.
(2) Any person convicted of computer password disclosure shall be
fined not more than $5,000.00 or incarcerated for a period not to
exceed one year, or both.
16-9-93.1. (a) It shall be unlawful for any person, any organization, or
any....
(a) It shall be unlawful for any person, any organization, or any
representative of any organization knowingly to transmit any data through
a computer network or over the transmission facilities or through the
network facilities of a local telephone network for the purpose of
setting up, maintaining, operating, or exchanging data with an electronic
mailbox, home page, or any other electronic information storage bank or
point of access to electronic information if such data uses any individual
name, trade name, registered trademark, logo, legal or official seal, or
copyrighted symbol to falsely identify the person, organization, or
representative transmitting such data or which would falsely state or
imply that such person, organization, or representative has permission or
is legally authorized to use such trade name, registered trademark,
logo, legal or official seal, or copyrighted symbol for such purpose when
such permission or authorization has not been obtained; provided,
however, that no telecommunications company or Internet access provider
shall violate this Code section solely as a result of carrying or
transmitting such data for its customers.
(b) Any person violating subsection (a) of this Code section shall be
guilty of a misdemeanor.
(c) Nothing in this Code section shall be construed to limit an
aggrieved party's right to pursue a civil action for equitable or
monetary relief, or both, for actions which violate this Code section
16-9-151. As used in this article, the term:
As used in this article, the term:
(1) "Advertisement" means a communication, the primary purpose of
which is the commercial promotion of a commercial product or service,
including content on an Internet website operated for a commercial
purpose.
(2) "Authorized user," with respect to a computer, means a person who
owns or is authorized by the owner or lessee to use the computer.
(3) "Cause to be copied" means to distribute or transfer computer
software or any component thereof. Such term shall not include
providing:
(A) Transmission, routing, provision of intermediate temporary
storage, or caching of software;
(B) A storage medium, such as a compact disk, website, or computer
server, through which the software was distributed by a third party;
or
(C) An information location tool, such as a directory, index,
reference, pointer, or hypertext link, through which the user of the
computer located the software.
(4) "Computer software" means a sequence of instructions written in
any programming language that is executed on a computer. Such term
shall not include a text or data file, a web page, or a data component
of a web page that is not executable independently of the web page.
(5) "Computer virus" means a computer program or other set of
instructions that is designed to degrade the performance of or disable a
computer or computer network and is designed to have the ability to
replicate itself on other computers or computer networks without the
authorization of the owners of those computers or computer networks.
(6) "Consumer" means an individual who resides in this state and who
uses the computer in question primarily for personal, family, or
household purposes.
(7) "Damage" means any significant impairment to the integrity or
availability of data, software, a system, or information.
(8) "Execute," when used with respect to computer software, means the
performance of the functions or the carrying out of the instructions
of the computer software.
(9) "Intentionally deceptive" means any of the following:
(A) By means of an intentionally and materially false or fraudulent
statement;
(B) By means of a statement or description that intentionally omits or
misrepresents material information in order to deceive the consumer;
or
(C) By means of an intentional and material failure to provide any
notice to an authorized user regarding the download or installation of
software in order to deceive the consumer.
(10) "Internet" means the global information system that is logically
linked together by a globally unique address space based on the Internet
Protocol or its subsequent extensions; that is able to support
communications using the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol
suite, its subsequent extensions, or other Internet Protocol compatible
protocols; and that provides, uses, or makes accessible, either publicly
or privately, high level services layered on the communications and
related infrastructure described in this paragraph.
(11) "Person" means any individual, partnership, corporation, limited
liability company, or other organization, or any combination thereof.
(12) "Personally identifiable information" means any of the following:
(A) A first name or first initial in combination with a last name;
(B) Credit or debit card numbers or other financial account numbers;
(C) A password or personal identification number required to access an
identified financial account;
(D) A social security number; or
(E) Any of the following information in a form that personally
identifies an authorized user:
(i) Account balances;
(ii) Overdraft history;
(iii) Payment history;
(iv) A history of websites visited;
(v) A home address;
(vi) A work address; or(vii) A record of a purchase or purchases.
16-9-152. (a) It shall be illegal for a person or entity that is not an....
(a) It shall be illegal for a person or entity that is not an
authorized user, as defined in Code Section 16-9-151, of a computer in
this state to knowingly, willfully, or with conscious indifference or
disregard cause computer software to be copied onto such computer and use
the software to do any of the following:
(1) Modify, through intentionally deceptive means, any of the following
settings related to the computer's access to, or use of, the Internet:
(A) The page that appears when an authorized user launches an Internet
browser or similar software program used to access and navigate the
Internet;
(B) The default provider or web proxy the authorized user uses to
access or search the Internet; or
(C) The authorized user's list of bookmarks used to access web pages;
(2) Collect, through intentionally deceptive means, personally
identifiable information that meets any of the following criteria:
(A) It is collected through the use of a keystroke-logging function
that records all keystrokes made by an authorized user who uses the
computer and transfers that information from the computer to another
person;
(B) It includes all or substantially all of the websites visited by an
authorized user, other than websites of the provider of the software,
if the computer software was installed in a manner designed to conceal
from all authorized users of the computer the fact that the software
is being installed; or
(C) It is a data element described in subparagraph (B), (C), or (D) of
paragraph (12) of Code Section 16-9-151, or in division (12)(E)(i) or
(12)(E)(ii) of Code Section 16-9-151, that is extracted from the
consumer's or business entity's computer hard drive for a purpose
wholly unrelated to any of the purposes of the software or service
described to an authorized user;
(3) Prevent, without the authorization of an authorized user, through
intentionally deceptive means, an authorized user's reasonable efforts
to block the installation of, or to disable, software, by causing
software that the authorized user has properly removed or disabled to
automatically reinstall or reactivate on the computer without the
authorization of an authorized user;
(4) Intentionally misrepresent that software will be uninstalled or
disabled by an authorized user's action, with knowledge that the
software will not be so uninstalled or disabled; or
(5) Through intentionally deceptive means, remove, disable, or render
inoperative security, antispyware, or antivirus software installed on
the computer.
(b) Nothing in this Code section shall apply to any monitoring of, or
interaction with, a user's Internet or other network connection or
service, or a protected computer, by a telecommunications carrier, cable
operator, computer hardware or software provider, or provider of
information service or interactive computer service for network or
computer security purposes, diagnostics, technical support, repair,
network management, network maintenance, authorized updates of software
or system firmware, authorized remote system management, or detection or
prevention of the unauthorized use of or fraudulent or other illegal
activities in connection with a network, service, or computer software,
including scanning for and removing software proscribed under this
article.
16-9-153. (a) It shall be illegal for a person or entity that is not an....
(a) It shall be illegal for a person or entity that is not an
authorized user, as defined in Code Section 16-9-151, of a computer in
this state to knowingly, willfully, or with conscious indifference or
disregard cause computer software to be copied onto such computer and use
the software to do any of the following:
(1) Take control of the consumer's or business entity's computer by
doing any of the following:
(A) Transmitting or relaying commercial electronic mail or a computer
virus from the consumer's or business entity's computer, where the
transmission or relaying is initiated by a person other than the
authorized user and without the authorization of an authorized user;
(B) Accessing or using the consumer's or business entity's modem or
Internet service for the purpose of causing damage to the consumer's
or business entity's computer or of causing an authorized user or a
third party affected by such conduct to incur financial charges for a
service that is not authorized by an authorized user;
(C) Using the consumer's or business entity's computer as part of an
activity performed by a group of computers for the purpose of causing
damage to another computer, including, but not limited to, launching a
denial of service attack; or
(D) Opening multiple, sequential, stand-alone advertisements in the
consumer's or business entity's Internet browser without the
authorization of an authorized user and with knowledge that a reasonable
computer user cannot close the advertisements without turning off the
computer or closing the consumer's or business entity's Internet
browser;
(2) Modify any of the following settings related to the computer's
access to, or use of, the Internet:
(A) An authorized user's security or other settings that protect
information about the authorized user for the purpose of stealing
personal information of an authorized user; or
(B) The security settings of the computer for the purpose of causing
damage to one or more computers; or
(3) Prevent, without the authorization of an authorized user, an
authorized user's reasonable efforts to block the installation of, or
to disable, software, by doing any of the following:
(A) Presenting the authorized user with an option to decline
installation of software with knowledge that, when the option is selected
by the authorized user, the installation nevertheless proceeds; or
(B) Falsely representing that software has been disabled.
(b) Nothing in this Code section shall apply to any monitoring of, or
interaction with, a user's Internet or other network connection or
service, or a protected computer, by a telecommunications carrier, cable
operator, computer hardware or software provider, or provider of
information service or interactive computer service for network or
computer security purposes, diagnostics, technical support, repair,
network management, network maintenance, authorized updates of software
or system firmware, authorized remote system management, or detection or
prevention of the unauthorized use of or fraudulent or other illegal
activities in connection with a network, service, or computer software,
including scanning for and removing software proscribed under this
article.
16-9-154. (a) It shall be illegal for a person or entity that is not an....
(a) It shall be illegal for a person or entity that is not an
authorized user, as defined in Code Section 16-9-151, of a computer in
this state to do any of the following with regard to such computer:
(1) Induce an authorized user to install a software component onto the
computer by intentionally misrepresenting that installing software is
necessary for security or privacy reasons or in order to open, view,
or play a particular type of content; or
(2) Deceptively causing the copying and execution on the computer of a
computer software component with the intent of causing an authorized
user to use the component in a way that violates any other provision
of this Code section.
(b) Nothing in this Code section shall apply to any monitoring of, or
interaction with, a user's Internet or other network connection or
service, or a protected computer, by a telecommunications carrier, cable
operator, computer hardware or software provider, or provider of
information service or interactive computer service for network or
computer security purposes, diagnostics, technical support, repair,
network management, network maintenance, authorized updates of software
or system firmware, authorized remote system management, or detection or
prevention of the unauthorized use of or fraudulent or other illegal
activities in connection with a network, service, or computer software,
including scanning for and removing software proscribed under this
article.
16-9-155. (a) Any person who violates the provisions of paragraph (2)
of....
(a) Any person who violates the provisions of paragraph (2) of Code
Section 16-9-152, subparagraph (a)(1)(A), (a)(1)(B), or (a)(1)(C) of Code
Section 16-9-153, or paragraph (2) of subsection (a) of Code Section
16-9-153 shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall
be sentenced to imprisonment for not less than one nor more than ten
years or a fine of not more than $3 million, or both.
(b) The Attorney General may bring a civil action against any person
violating this article to enforce the penalties for the violation and
may recover any or all of the following:
(1) A civil penalty of up to $100.00 per violation of this article, or
up to $100,000.00 for a pattern or practice of such violations;
(2) Costs and reasonable attorney's fees; and
(3) An order to enjoin the violation.
(c) In the case of a violation of subparagraph (a)(1)(B) of Code
Section 16-9-153 that causes a telecommunications carrier to incur costs
for the origination, transport, or termination of a call triggered using
the modem of a customer of such telecommunications carrier as a result of
such violation, the telecommunications carrier may bring a civil action
against the violator to recover any or all of the following:
(1) The charges such carrier is obligated to pay to another carrier or
to an information service provider as a result of the violation,
including, but not limited to, charges for the origination, transport,
or termination of the call;
(2) Costs of handling customer inquiries or complaints with respect to
amounts billed for such calls;
(3) Costs and reasonable attorney's fees; and
(4) An order to enjoin the violation.
(d) An Internet service provider or software company that expends
resources in good faith assisting consumers or business entities
harmed by a violation of this chapter, or a trademark owner whose mark
is used to deceive consumers or business entities in violation of this
chapter, may enforce the violation and may recover any or all of the
following:
(1) Statutory damages of not more than $100.00 per violation of this
article, or up to $1 million for a pattern or practice of such
violations;
(2) Costs and reasonable attorney's fees; and
(3) An order to enjoin the violation.
