A man in Chiayi County has been sentenced to three months in prison, commutable to a fine, after he logged into his wife’s Facebook account and sent messages to contact her following an argument last year.
The verdict, released earlier this month by the Chiayi District Court, found that the man, surnamed Hou (侯), illegally logged into the Facebook account of his wife, surnamed Yu (余), on May 31 and June 1 last year, after she left the house with their daughter and refused to take his calls.
On June 1, Hou used a computer to send messages from Yu’s Messenger account to their daughter and his mother-in-law, in which he apologized to his wife and asked her to get in touch with him so they could work out their problems.
Photo: Reuters
Upon discovering the messages, Yu filed a police report at the Chiayi County Police Department’s Puzi Precinct Bureau, which led to an investigation and the eventual filing of criminal charges by the Chiayi District Prosecutors’ Office.
In its verdict, the court reasoned that individuals maintain their legal independence and do not forfeit their right to privacy when they enter into a marriage.
Failure to uphold these principles would risk exposing people to round-the-clock surveillance by their partners, particularly in cases where an affair is suspected, it said.
The court’s verdict found Hou guilty of “offenses against computer security” under the Criminal Code, both for using Yu’s password to access her account without her knowledge, and for “altering [her] digital record” by using the account to send messages.
However, it said that Hou had admitted to the offenses and had no prior criminal record, and on those grounds sentenced him to three months in prison, commutable to a fine at a rate of NT$1,000 per day.
The verdict can be appealed.
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