Q: I think I am being cyberstalked! I have a profile on Myspace and Facebook (and my own website) and use all of these to plug club nights which I run as a free lancer. All these sites contain personal information about me and my life including pictures of me and my friends and comments on my wall. I have become slightly perturbed that I seem to have a few visitors who spend more time on my site than I am comfortable with. I have obtained IP addresses for these stalkers but am unable to find out more information in order to be able to identify who the individuals behind the IP addresses are. What are my rights?

A: There are a number of different laws in the UK which deal with stalking. The Protection from Harassment Act 1997 was widely drafted to deal with stalkers and other forms of harassment. Under the Act it is a criminal offence to cause an individual harassment, alarm, distress, or a fear of violence by a course of conduct.

Cyberstalking although not a specific criminal offence, is defined as use of the internet or other electronic means to stalk someone. Under Section 1 of the Malicious Communications Act 1998 it is an offence to send an indecent, offensive or threatening letter or electronic communication. Such an offence is punishable with up to six months imprisonment and/or a fine of up to £5,000.

If someone is sending you malicious or offensive email messages or stalking you in a manner which causes you to fear violence against you/causes you alarm or distress then you can make a complaint to the police. If your stalker is found to have committed a criminal offence then you can also obtain a restraining order against them to stop them from contacting you again. If they breach such an order then they could find themselves facing up to five years of time ‘inside’ at Her Majesty’s Pleasure.

However in your case the constant ‘visits’ to your various sites from various visitors, whilst clearly making you feel uncomfortable, is not in itself an activity which in my view constitutes a course of conduct which is actionable under the Act. Using the law to find out the identity of the individuals behind these IP addresses is virtually impossible without them actually committing a criminal offence. I can only suggest you consider separating work from play and using your website to promote your business interests and keeping your social networking sites strictly for friends. Perhaps you could increase the privacy settings on these sites so that only individuals known to you and accepted as your ‘friends’ can see all your personal information. Also have a look at the next Ask Ambi column which deals specifically with the perils of potentially foregoing one’s privacy when using such social networking sites.
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