The sanction is part of a series of law changes which could also see people being sent to prison for failing to hand over their computer and mobile phone passwords.
A current loophole in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Law, known as RIPL, is set to be closed as part of the package of reforms to crack down on cybercrime including child pornography, hate crimes and copyright infringement.
At the moment, police can require telecoms and postal operators to hand over physical documents, but there is nothing to stop such firms from letting their customers know what is going on.
The ‘tipping-off provision’ would make it an offence for them to fail to keep such inquiries secret, to avoid the person being investigated having time to cover their tracks.
At the same time, the scope of such powers would be widened to allow the authorities to access information stored electronically, including data stored on cloud-based servers.
Police officers would also be able to apply to the court for permission to demand passwords to access computers on the grounds of national security, and even biometric identification to access devices that use fingerprints and iris scans.
Failure to do so could also lead to a five-year prison term.
Home Affairs Minister Len Norman said: ‘The draft cybercrime law will bring Jersey up-to-date in its treatment of crime involving computers and data storage. The draft law is a series of amendments to other legislation which, together, will provide authorities with sufficient powers to deal with increasingly sophisticated online criminal activity, and will make Jersey compliant with the international treaties in this area.’
The changes will allow Jersey to sign up to the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime, known as the Budapest Convention, making it easier for Island authorities to liaise with counterparts across Europe to crack down on crime.
The States Assembly will debate the plan in January.
