Law / United States / 
Connecticut
Connecticut Computer Crime (unauthorized access, undefined authorization test)
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What follows is LexLint's own research summary of this law, not legal advice.
In force since 1 October 1984.
A computer misuse rule binding public and private bodies.
As of 29 August 2026.
What it requires
- Do not access a Connecticut-connected computer system knowing you lack authorization to do so; the statute's own text leaves open whether an unrestricted public page counts as authorized, so treat that question as unsettled rather than resolved.
- Be aware that unauthorized access to or copying of private personal data is valued at $1,500 per the statute's own grading rule, which can raise the offense level even for a small data set.
What this law does
Drafted with AI from the cited sources under the direction of UnGovr staff. UnGovr holds editorial responsibility for this page.
Section 53a-251(b)(1) criminalizes unauthorized access to a computer system when a person, knowing that he is not authorized to do so, accesses or causes to be accessed any computer system without authorization. The statute does not itself define without authorization for a system open to the public, so it carries the same textual gap the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) has always carried, and no Connecticut appellate decision construes it against a scraper of public pages.
Grading turns on the dollar value of damage or of computer services, and the statute fixes the value of private personal data at $1,500 for grading purposes (section 53a-259(c)), which matters specifically for personal-data scraping.
The Second Circuit's narrow construction of exceeds authorized access in United States v. Valle (807 F.3d 508, 2d Cir. 2015), consistent with the national reading Van Buren v. United States (593 U.S. 374, 2021) later adopted, is the closest regional authority, though it is federal rather than Connecticut law. Section 53a-251 was added by Public Act 84-206 and carries no History note in the official statute text, meaning it has never been amended since.
That Act's own conversion table shows no override of the general default rule for the effective date of a Connecticut public act (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 2-32: the first day of October following the session at which it was passed), so the section commenced October 1, 1984.
When LexLint raises it
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Read the law
official text, Connecticut General Assembly (cga.ct.gov)
Every line above is drawn from the primary source linked here, read on the date shown. This is a research summary, not legal advice.