Clause 19
Amendment of section 6
of Scams (Countermeasures) and Other Matters Bill
In the Online Criminal Harms Act, in section 6, after subsection (3), insert —“(4) Despite subsection (1), a Part 2 direction may be given by the operation of a computer program for which a responsible officer is responsible, if there is an assessment by the operation of the computer program —
that a specified offence has been, or is likely to have been, committed and that any online activity is, or is likely to be, in furtherance of the commission of the offence; or
that any online activity is, or is likely to be, preparatory to, or in furtherance of, the commission of a scam or malicious cyber activity offence.
A Part 2 direction given under subsection (4) is deemed to be a Part 2 direction that is given by a designated officer.
In this section —“chief executive”, in relation to a public authority, means the individual (however designated) who is appointed as the chief executive officer of the public authority, and includes any individual acting in that capacity;“responsible officer”, in relation to a computer program, means —
a Permanent Secretary who authorised the use of the computer program by designated officers who are public officers from a particular Ministry or department of the Government (including officers under a secondment arrangement);
the chief executive of a public authority who authorised the use of the computer program by designated officers employed by the public authority;
the Commissioner of Police appointed under section 6(1) of the Police Force Act 2004 who authorised the use of the computer program by designated officers who are police officers within the meaning given by section 2(1) of the Police Force Act 2004, Commercial Affairs Officers appointed under section 64(1) of that Act or civilian specialist officers appointed under section 65C of that Act; or
any other public officer appointed by a Minister as a responsible officer.”.