2025 Georgia Codes – Page 113

(a) It shall be illegal for a person or entity that is not an authorized user, as defined in Code Section 16-9-151,
of a computer in this state to knowingly, willfully, or with conscious indifference or disregard cause com-
puter software to be copied onto such computer and use the software to do any of the following:
(1) Modify, through intentionally deceptive means, any of the following settings related to the computer’s
access to, or use of, the Internet:
(A) The page that appears when an authorized user launches an Internet browser or similar software pro-
gram used to access and navigate the Internet;
(B) The default provider or web proxy the authorized user uses to access or search the Internet; or
(C) The authorized user’s list of bookmarks used to access web pages;
(2) Collect, through intentionally deceptive means, personally identifiable information that meets any of the
following criteria:
(A) It is collected through the use of a keystroke-logging function that records all keystrokes made by an
authorized user who uses the computer and transfers that information from the computer to another person;
(B) It includes all or substantially all of the websites visited by an authorized user, other than websites of
the provider of the software, if the computer software was installed in a manner designed to conceal from
all authorized users of the computer the fact that the software is being installed; or
(C) It is a data element described in subparagraph (B), (C), or (D) of paragraph (12) of Code Section 16-9-
151, or in division (12)(E)(i) or (12)(E)(ii) of Code Section 16-9-151, that is extracted from the consum-
er’s or business entity’s computer hard drive for a purpose wholly unrelated to any of the purposes of the
software or service described to an authorized user;
(3) Prevent, without the authorization of an authorized user, through intentionally deceptive means, an
authorized user’s reasonable efforts to block the installation of, or to disable, software, by causing software
that the authorized user has properly removed or disabled to automatically reinstall or reactivate on the
computer without the authorization of an authorized user;
(4) Intentionally misrepresent that software will be uninstalled or disabled by an authorized user’s action,
with knowledge that the software will not be so uninstalled or disabled; or
(5) Through intentionally deceptive means, remove, disable, or render inoperative security, antispyware, or
antivirus software installed on the computer.
(b) Nothing in this Code section shall apply to any monitoring of, or interaction with, a user’s Internet or
other network connection or service, or a protected computer, by a telecommunications carrier, cable opera-
tor, computer hardware or software provider, or provider of information service or interactive computer
service for network or computer security purposes, diagnostics, technical support, repair, network manage-
ment, network maintenance, authorized updates of software or system firmware, authorized remote system
management, or detection or prevention of the unauthorized use of or fraudulent or other illegal activities
in connection with a network, service, or computer software, including scanning for and removing software
proscribed under this article.

(a) It shall be illegal for a person or entity that is not an authorized user, as defined in Code Section 16-9-151,
of a computer in this state to knowingly, willfully, or with conscious indifference or disregard cause com-
puter software to be copied onto such computer and use the software to do any of the following:
(1) Take control of the consumer’s or business entity’s computer by doing any of the following:
(A) Transmitting or relaying commercial e-mail or a computer virus from the consumer’s or business
entity’s computer, where the transmission or relaying is initiated by a person other than the authorized user
and without the authorization of an authorized user;
(B) Accessing or using the consumer’s or business entity’s modem or Internet service for the purpose of
causing damage to the consumer’s or business entity’s computer or of causing an authorized user or a third
party affected by such conduct to incur financial charges for a service that is not authorized by an autho-
rized user;
(C) Using the consumer’s or business entity’s computer as part of an activity performed by a group of com-
puters for the purpose of causing damage to another computer, including, but not limited to, launching a
denial of service attack; or
(D) Opening multiple, sequential, stand-alone advertisements in the consumer’s or business entity’s Internet
browser without the authorization of an authorized user and with knowledge that a reasonable computer
user cannot close the advertisements without turning off the computer or closing the consumer’s or busi-
ness entity’s Internet browser;
(2) Modify any of the following settings related to the computer’s access to, or use of, the Internet:
(A) An authorized user’s security or other settings that protect information about the authorized user for the
purpose of stealing personal information of an authorized user; or
(B) The security settings of the computer for the purpose of causing damage to one or more computers; or
(3) Prevent, without the authorization of an authorized user, an authorized user’s reasonable efforts to block
the installation of, or to disable, software, by doing any of the following:
(A) Presenting the authorized user with an option to decline installation of software with knowledge that,
when the option is selected by the authorized user, the installation nevertheless proceeds; or
(B) Falsely representing that software has been disabled.
(b) Nothing in this Code section shall apply to any monitoring of, or interaction with, a user’s Internet or
other network connection or service, or a protected computer, by a telecommunications carrier, cable opera-
tor, computer hardware or software provider, or provider of information service or interactive computer
service for network or computer security purposes, diagnostics, technical support, repair, network manage-
ment, network maintenance, authorized updates of software or system firmware, authorized remote system
management, or detection or prevention of the unauthorized use of or fraudulent or other illegal activities
in connection with a network, service, or computer software, including scanning for and removing software
proscribed under this article.