Crimes Act 2013, computer-access and interference offences
Crimes Act 2013, No. 10 (Samoa), Part 18 (ss. 206-214)
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 1 May 2013.
A computer misuse rule binding public and private bodies.
As of 7 September 2026.
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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
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, so no penalty_structure is recorded.
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
Samoa Police Service
What it reaches
Obligation class
Access restriction, Prohibition
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 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
crawls_web
Read the law
Text of the Crimes Act 2013, Samoa Consolidated Legislation 2020, PacLII, archived copy