Penal Code, unauthorized computer access
17 PNCA secs. 3101, 3109-3111 (Computer Crimes, Unauthorized Computer Access)
A citation is an address, not a summary. The first part names the law; what follows narrows it to the exact section, article or paragraph.
In force.
A computer misuse rule binding public and private bodies.
As of 5 September 2026.
What it requires
- Do not access a computer, computer system, or computer network without authorization, meaning without the permission of, or in excess of the permission granted by, its owner, lessor, or rightful user.
- Whether reading a public, unauthenticated page without such permission falls inside or outside this offense has not been tested in a reported Palauan decision; Palau's authorization test turns on the owner's permission rather than on defeating a technical security measure.
- Accessing without authorization and obtaining information is a more serious offense where it is done for commercial or private financial gain, in furtherance of another crime, where the information's value exceeds $5,000, or where the information is legally protected against disclosure.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Private right of actionNo
Criminal exposure note
Unauthorized computer access carries imprisonment of up to ten years for the class B felony tier, five years for the class C felony tier, or one year for the misdemeanor tier (17 PNCA secs. 663-664), graded by whether the access was aggravated by financial gain, another crime, a $5,000 information-value threshold, or legally protected information, and by whether information was obtained at all.
Penalty structure
Unauthorized computer access is graded in three tiers under 17 PNCA sections 3109-3111: a class B felony, fined up to this amount, for access aggravated by financial gain, furtherance of another crime, an information value over $5,000, or legally protected information; a class C felony, fined up to $10,000, for the same access without an aggravating factor; and a misdemeanor, fined up to $1,000, for access alone without obtaining information (17 PNCA sec. 651).
- Rule
- Fixed only
- As of
- 5 September 2026
- Currency
- USD
- Fixed cap
- 25,000
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 3101(14) defines accessing a computer, computer system, or computer network 'without authorization' as without the permission of, or in excess of the permission granted by, its owner, lessor, or rightful user, a permission-based test rather than one that turns on defeating a technical security measure.
Sections 3109 through 3111 grade unauthorized computer access into three tiers: a class B felony where the person knowingly accesses without authorization, obtains information, and the offense is aggravated by commercial or private financial gain, furtherance of another crime, an information value exceeding $5,000, or information legally protected against disclosure; a class C felony for the same access and obtaining of information without such an aggravating factor; and a misdemeanor for knowingly accessing without authorization alone, without obtaining information.
Because the offense's authorization test asks about the owner's permission rather than requiring proof that a security measure was defeated, whether reading a public, unauthenticated page is authorized has not been tested in a reported Palauan decision.
When LexLint raises it
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Read the law
Penal Code, Title 17 PNCA Chapter 31, official Palau National Code Annotated text