Law / United States / 
Missouri
Civil action for tampering with computer data, computer equipment, or computer users
In force since .
A computer misuse rule binding public and private bodies.
- Obligation class
- Access restriction
- Audit expectation
- none
What it requires
- A Missouri computer system's owner or lessee may sue any person who violates Sections 569.095 to 569.099 for compensatory damages, including the cost of verifying the system was not altered or damaged.
- A prevailing plaintiff may also recover reasonable attorney's fees.
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Private right of actionYes
Criminal exposure note
The conduct section 537.525 makes actionable is itself an offence: tampering with computer data, equipment or users under sections 569.095 to 569.099 is a class A misdemeanor, a class E felony where committed to defraud or obtain property worth $750 or more, and, for tampering with computer equipment causing damage of $25,000 or more, a class D felony.
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
The owner or lessee of the computer system, computer network, computer program, computer service or data, by a private civil action under section 537.525; the underlying conduct is a crime under sections 569.095 to 569.099.
Settledness
- As of
- Open questions
- Does automated access to a publicly available web page occur "without authorization" under section 569.099.1(1), the offence section 537.525 incorporates?
- Does the operator of a website hosted on a third party's servers qualify as the "owner or lessee of the computer system, computer network, computer program, computer service or data" who may sue under section 537.525.1?
What it makes you log
Logging duty
Section 537.525 gives the owner or lessee of a computer system or data a civil action for compensatory damages, including the reasonable cost of verifying that a system or data was not altered, damaged or deleted, against a person who violates sections 569.095 to 569.099. The verification cost is a recoverable expense and not a duty to keep a record. No log or record duty and no territorial clause appear, so no hook is recorded.
- Kind
- None
- As of
What this law does
In addition to any other civil remedy, the owner or lessee of a computer system, network, program, service, or data may bring a civil action for compensatory damages, including the expense of verifying the system was not altered, damaged, or deleted, against any person who violates Sections 569.095 to 569.099. A court may award reasonable attorney's fees to a prevailing plaintiff.
This is an independent state-law civil remedy on top of, not a substitute for, the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act's own private right of action.
When LexLint raises it
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