South Australian Numbered Acts South Australian Numbered ActsAfter section 44 insert:
44A—Unauthorised impairment of data held in credit card or on computer
disk or other device
(1) A person
who—
(a)
causes (directly or indirectly) an unauthorised impairment of data held in a
credit card or on a computer disk or other device used to store data by
electronic means; and
(b)
knows that the impairment is unauthorised; and
(c)
intends, by that impairment, to cause harm or inconvenience, or is reckless as
to whether harm or inconvenience will ensue,
is guilty of an offence.
Maximum penalty: Imprisonment for 2 years.
(2) An impairment of
data is unauthorised unless it is made by the owner of the data or some other
person who has an authorisation or licence (express or implied) from the owner
of the data to cause the impairment.
(3) A person is to be
regarded as the owner of data if—
(a) the
person brought the data into existence or stored the data in the credit card
or on the computer disk or other device for his or her own purposes; or
(b) the
data was brought into existence or stored in the credit card or on the
computer disk or other device at the request or on behalf of that person; or
(c) the
person has a proprietary interest in, or possessory rights over, the medium in
which the data is stored entitling the person to determine what data is stored
in the medium and in what form.
(4) The onus of
establishing that an impairment of data was unauthorised lies on the
prosecution.