Criminal Code Act 1995

Schedule - The Criminal Code  

Section 3

CHAPTER 10 - NATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE  

Part 10.6 - Telecommunications Services  

Division 474 - Telecommunications offences  

Subdivision C - General offences relating to use of telecommunications  

SECTION 474.17C   Using a carriage service to make available etc. personal data of one or more individuals  

(1)    
A person commits an offence if:

(a)    the person uses a carriage service to make available, publish or otherwise distribute information; and

(b)    the information is personal data of one or more individuals; and

(c)    the person engages in the conduct in a way that reasonable persons would regard as being, in all the circumstances, menacing or harassing towards those individuals.

Note:

Publishing the name, image and telephone number of an individual on a website and encouraging others to repeatedly contact the individual with violent or threatening messages is an example of conduct (commonly referred to as doxxing) that is covered by this subsection.

Penalty: Imprisonment for 6 years.


(2)    
For the purposes of paragraph (1)(b) , personal data of an individual means information about the individual that enables the individual to be identified, contacted or located, and includes the following:

(a)    the name of the individual;

(b)    a photograph or other image of the individual;

(c)    a telephone number of the individual;

(d)    an email address of the individual;

(e)    an online account of the individual;

(f)    a residential address of the individual;

(g)    a work or business address of the individual;

(h)    a place of education of the individual;

(i)    a place of worship of the individual.




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