1、CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Legal SidebarLegal Sidebari i Van Buren v. United States: Supreme Court Holds Accessing Information on a Computer for Unauthorized Purposes Not Federal Crime July 1, 2021 On June 3, 2021, the United States Supreme Court issued its opi
2、nion in Van Buren v. United States, holding that an individual does not violate the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) if he is authorized to obtain information on a computer for specific purposes only, and he then accesses that information for other unauthorized purposes. Rather, in a 6-3 opinion
3、authored by Justice Barrett, the Court determined that in order to violate the CFAA, an individual must access an area of a computer or information on a computer that is completely “off limits to him,” as opposed to accessing a computer or information that he is entitled to use in at least some circ
4、umstances. In so holding, the Court appears to have resolved an issue that has divided lower courtswhether obtaining information for an improper purpose is unlawful under the CFAA. Given the potentially wide-reaching implications of Van Buren, which marks the Courts first significant foray into a st
