Computer Misuse Act, Unauthorised Access to Computer Material
Computer Misuse Act 1993 (Cap. 50A), s. 3 (Unauthorised Access to Computer Material)
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 since 30 August 1993.
A computer misuse rule binding public and private bodies.
As of 7 September 2026.
What it requires
- Do not cause a computer to perform any function for the purpose of securing access to a program or data without authority, meaning without being entitled to control that access and without the consent of a person who is so entitled.
- Reading a public, unauthenticated page without defeating any access control has not itself been held to violate this section.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Criminal exposure note
Section 3(1): a fine not exceeding $5,000 or imprisonment not exceeding 2 years or both on a first conviction, rising to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or imprisonment not exceeding 3 years or both on a second or subsequent conviction. Section 3(2): where damage is caused as a result of the offence, a fine not exceeding $50,000 or imprisonment not exceeding 7 years or both.
Penalty structure
Section 3 sets three escalating tiers rather than one flat cap: a first conviction under s.3(1)(a) draws a fine not exceeding $5,000 or imprisonment not exceeding 2 years or both; a second or subsequent conviction under s.3(1)(b) draws a fine not exceeding $10,000 or imprisonment not exceeding 3 years or both; and where the offence under s.3(2) causes damage, the fine rises to not exceeding $50,000 or imprisonment not exceeding 7 years or both. The fixed_cap field above records only the highest of these three tiers, the damage-caused fine under s.3(2).
- Rule
- Fixed only
- As of
- 7 September 2026
- Currency
- SGD
- Fixed cap
- 50,000
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 3(1) makes it an offence for any person to knowingly cause a computer to perform any function for the purpose of securing access without authority to any program or data held in any computer, punishable on a first conviction by a fine not exceeding $5,000 or imprisonment not exceeding 2 years or both, and on a second or subsequent conviction by a fine not exceeding $10,000 or imprisonment not exceeding 3 years or both.
Where the offence causes damage, section 3(2) raises the penalty to a fine not exceeding $50,000 or imprisonment not exceeding 7 years or both. Access is unauthorised under section 2(5) where the person is not entitled to control access of that kind and has no consent from someone who is so entitled; no reported Singapore decision has tested whether reading a public, unauthenticated web page without defeating any access control falls within this offence.
When LexLint raises it
crawls_webtrains_models
Read the law
official consolidated Act text, Singapore Statutes Online (SSO)