Dealing in Identification Information that Involves the Use of a Carriage Service

Dealing in identification information that involves the use of a carriage service is an offence under section 372.1A of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth), which carries a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison.

To establish the offence, the prosecution must prove beyond reasonable doubt that:

1. You dealt in identification information
2. You did so using a carriage service
3. You intended the user would pretend to be, or would be passed off to be, another person, whether living, dead, real or fictitious, and
4. The information would be used to commit or facilitate an offence.

‘Identification information’ is that which relates to another person, whether dead or alive, real or fictitious, that is capable of being used to identify a person, whether by itself or in conjunction with other information.

It includes:

1. A name, address, date or place of birth, marital status, relative’s identity,
2. A driver licence or driver licence number
3. A passport or passport number,
4. A voice print or biometric data
5. A credit or debit card, its number or data stored or encrypted on it,
6. A financial account number, user name or password
7. A digital signature
8. Any series of numbers and/or letters intended for use as personal information, or
9. An ABN.

‘Dealt with’ includes making, supplying or using.

A ‘carriage service’ is:

‘a service for carrying communications by means of guided and/or unguided electromagnetic energy’, which includes telephone calls, text messages and internet transmissions, such as emails and the use of social media sites.

Duress and necessity are defences to the charge.