-16The Constructional Question
32.
There are a number of constructional questions which could arise in
this case. One is whether a smartphone or an iPhone is a computer for the
purposes of s 161(1)(c)? Another is whether, assuming such a device is a
computer, its use to take photographs and transmit them to another involves
“access to a computer”? The answers to those questions are not straightforward
and do not fall to be determined in this appeal. The ground of importance on
which this Court granted leave to appeal was narrowed, in argument, to a
constructional question, sufficient, if decided adversely to the appellant, to
dispose of the appeal. That question is whether the offence created by s 161(1)(c)
of the Crimes Ordinance covers a use by a person of their own computer with the
requisite intent?
33.
As the particulars of the offences indicate, each of the respondents
except for the third respondent, was charged on the basis of their use of a mobile
phone. It was not suggested that the phones belonged to anyone other than those
respondents. The third respondent was charged in relation to a desktop computer
provided by the school. Given the absence of any evidence of a limit on her
authority to use it, including use for private purposes, the appellant conceded that
for the purposes of this appeal her position was the same as that of the other
respondents. That is to say, the school computer could be treated, for the purposes
of the law, as though it were her own. We are not concerned with the correctness
of that concession and our acceptance of it does not create a precedent for future
cases involving the use by a person of a computer allocated to them by their
employer. In such cases, questions of private use rights might be raised distinct
from authorized use in the course of employment.
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