SamoaCrimes Act 2013, computer-access and interference offences
Crimes Act 2013, No. 10 (Samoa), Part 18 (ss. 206-214)
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.paclii.org/ws/legis/consol_act_2020/ca201382.pdfIn force since .
A computer misuse rule binding public and private bodies.
- Enforcement body
- Samoa Police Service
- Obligation class
- Access restriction, Prohibition
- Audit expectation
- none
What it requires
- Do not access, directly or indirectly, the whole or part of an electronic system without authorisation, or while reckless as to whether access is authorised, whether or not the underlying data is later used for crawling or training.NIST AI RMFMAP 4.1
- Do not log into or remain logged into, or continue to access, an electronic system without lawful excuse or in excess of a lawful excuse.NIST AI RMFMAP 4.1
- Do not intercept a non-public transmission of electronic data to, from, or within an electronic system, or the electromagnetic emissions of such a system, without right and with dishonest or otherwise unlawful intent.NIST AI RMFMAP 4.1
- Do not damage, delete, alter, or acquire electronic data that is specially protected against unauthorised access, and do not interfere with an electronic system in a way that endangers life or affects critical infrastructure.NIST AI RMFMAP 4.1
- Do not produce, sell, procure, import, distribute, or make available a device, access code, or password designed or intended for use in accessing an electronic system without authorisation.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.
- NIST AI 600-1
- GAI-RISK-09Information Security
- GAI-RISK-12Value Chain and Component Integration
- OWASP LLM Top 10
- LLM03:2026Excessive Agency
- OWASP Agentic Top 10
- ASI03Identity and Privilege Abuse
- MIT mitigations Draft
- NIST Privacy Framework
- CT.PO-P1Policies, processes, and procedures for authorizing data processing (e.g., organizational decisions, individual consent), revoking authorizations, and maintaining authorizations are established and in place.
- FINOS AIGF
- AIR-PREV-018Agent Authority Least Privilege Framework
- AIR-PREV-023Agentic System Credential Protection Framework
- ETSI EN 304 223
- 5.1.2-6Access the AI system gets to other systems and data sources is minimal and risk assessed.
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
Identifiers refer to ETSI EN 304 223 V2.1.1 (2025-12), © ETSI 2025, all rights reserved. ETSI owns the standard; no ETSI text (titles or sentences) is reproduced here. The standard is free to download from ETSI.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Criminal exposure note
Each offence in Part 18 sections 206 to 214 (illegal access, illegal access for a dishonest purpose, illegal remaining, illegal interception, damaging or interfering with electronic data, illegal acquisition of electronic data, illegal system interference, illegal devices, and making or distributing software for committing a crime) is punishable on conviction by imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years. None of these sections states a fine as an alternative to imprisonment.
What it makes you log
Logging duty
Part 18 of the Crimes Act 2013 (sections 206 to 214) makes it an offence to access an electronic system without authorisation, to access one for a dishonest purpose, to remain in one illegally, to intercept transmissions, to damage or interfere with electronic data or a system, to acquire protected data, and to make or supply illegal devices or software. None of the sections requires anyone to create, keep, produce or review a log or record. Part 18 has no territorial clause of its own; the Act's general sections 5 to 8 on offences outside Samoa are not invoked by it, so no hook is recorded.
- Kind
- None
- As of
What this law does
Section 206 makes it an offence, punishable by imprisonment of up to 7 years, to intentionally access, directly or indirectly, an electronic system without authorisation, or being reckless as to whether the person is authorised, and section 207 similarly bars accessing an electronic system dishonestly or by deception to obtain a benefit or cause loss.
Section 208 bars logging into and remaining logged into, or continuing to access, an electronic system without lawful excuse, and section 209 bars intercepting a non-public transmission of electronic data or the electromagnetic emissions of an electronic system without right and with dishonest intent.
Sections 210 to 212 bar damaging, deleting, or altering electronic data, illegally acquiring electronic data that is specially protected against unauthorised access, and interfering with an electronic system so as to endanger life or affect critical infrastructure. Section 213 bars producing, selling, or distributing a device or access code designed or intended for use in committing one of these offences.
Each of sections 206 to 213 is punishable by imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years, with no fine stated as an alternative, and section 214 separately punishes making, selling, distributing, or possessing software for committing a crime by the same 7-year term.
None of the exceptions in section 206(2) or 207(3), covering a person already authorised to access the system for another purpose, or a law-enforcement agency acting under a warrant, reaches an outside crawler accessing a page it has no security-measure-based authorisation to access.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app crawls the web.
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