BotswanaCybercrime and Computer Related Crimes Act, 2018 (Act No. 18 of 2018)
Cybercrime and Computer Related Crimes Act, 2018 (Act No. 18 of 2018)
archived copy
Read from a public archive copy, not the publisher directly. The publisher does not serve this page to automated readers, so a direct fetch was not an option here; how we access sources. Archived . Publisher's page: https://www.bocra.org.bw/sites/default/files/documents/18%20Act%2029-06-2018%20Cybercrime%20and%20Computer%20Related%20Crimes.pdfIn force since .
A computer misuse rule binding public and private bodies.
- How the hook was established
- express
- What makes it apply
- User location, Place of effect
- Audit expectation
- none
What it requires
- Do not access, or attempt to access, all or part of a computer or computer system knowing the access is unauthorised, and do not cause a computer system to perform a function as a result of such unauthorised access.NIST AI RMFMAP 4.1
- Do not secure or intend to secure access to a computer system for the purpose of obtaining a computer service, and do not intercept a function of or data within a computer system, without authorisation or beyond the authorisation given.NIST AI RMFMAP 4.1
- Do not damage, delete, alter, or interfere with computer data, or hinder or interfere with the functioning of a computer or computer system, without lawful excuse.no control in the NIST AI RMF
- Do not manufacture, sell, distribute, or possess a device, password, or access code designed or adapted to commit an offence under the Act.no control in the NIST AI RMF
- As a service provider, do not disclose without lawful authority that a preservation, production, or surveillance order has been made against you, or disclose data collected under such an order.no control in the NIST AI RMF
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
In the frameworks
- NIST AI RMF
- MAP 4.1Approaches for mapping AI technology and legal risks of its components – including the use of third-party data or software – are in place, followed, and documented, as are risks of infringement of a third party’s intellectual property or other rights.
Our reading of where this law's duties sit in each framework, and in the NIST AI RMF, line by line beside each duty above. It never says that running a control meets the law. How we read a framework against the law
Who enforces it
Settledness
- As of
- Open questions
- Does a website operator's technical or contractual restriction on automated retrieval make a visitor's access "unauthorised access" under section 4 of the Cybercrime and Computer Related Crimes Act, 2018, where the visitor "exceeds the access he or she is authorised"?
What it makes you log
Logging duty
Section 4 makes unauthorised access to a computer system an offence, and sections 5 to 12 add offences of access to a computer service, interference with data, interception, possession of devices and computer contaminants. None of these offence clauses requires anyone to create, keep or produce a log or record. Part III (ss. 24 to 29) lets an authorised officer order data to be preserved or produced for a specified period, but each duty arises only on service of an order in an investigation and is a power of the investigator, not a standing duty to log. Section 3 is the Act's jurisdiction clause and states the territorial hooks.
- Kind
- None
- As of
What this law does
Botswana's primary computer-misuse statute, assented to on , repealing and re-enacting with amendments an earlier Act of the same short title. It came into force on by Statutory Instrument 83 of 2018.
The current consolidated Laws of Botswana list a Chapter 08:06 "Cybercrime and Computer Related Crimes" whose section numbering and section headings match this 2018 Act exactly (unauthorised access as section 4, unauthorised interference with data as section 7, and so on), which this Act's own repeal clause explains: it is the current occupant of a chapter number the prior Act held.
It criminalizes unauthorised access to a computer or computer system (section 4, a fine up to P20,000 or imprisonment up to one year, or both) and to a computer service (section 5, up to P40,000 or two years), access with intent to commit a further offence (section 6), unauthorised interference with data or with a computer system (sections 7 and 8), unlawful interception (section 9), possession of hacking devices or data (section 10), unauthorised disclosure of a password or access code (section 11), introducing a computer contaminant (section 12), unauthorised access to critical national infrastructure (section 13), cyber extortion and cyber fraud (sections 14 and 15), cyber harassment and stalking (sections 16 to 18), child pornography and grooming offences (section 19), revenge pornography (section 20), and racist or xenophobic material (sections 21 and 22).
The highest penalty in the Part on offences is a minimum fine of P1,000,000 rising to P5,000,000 for a service provider that unlawfully discloses that a preservation, production, or surveillance order has been made against it, or discloses data collected under such an order (section 23); the Act carries no general liability exemption for a search engine, indexer, or host.
Part III gives police and other authorised officers powers to order data preservation, disclosure, production, search and seizure, and real-time collection of traffic or content data, each generally requiring judicial authorisation.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app crawls the web or trains models.
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