Access

General
Access is used in the information technology and information technology law contexts in a number of different ways. The following sections discuss some of the contexts in which the term "access" is used.

Computer system
(Noun) In general, access is the right to enter or make use of.

In the computer context, access refers to entry granted to a software path that establishes the right to use a system and its resources; to read, write, modify, or delete data; and/or to use software processes with various capabilities.

Access is the

"[a]bility and means to communicate with or otherwise interact with a system, to use system resources to handle information, to gain knowledge of the information the system contains, or to control system components and functions."

(Verb) To achieve the status of having access.

Copyright law
Under U.S. copyright law, the term access means the “opportunity to review the copyrighted work.” In traditional copyright infringement analysis, if the plaintiff cannot establish that the defendant copied a work by direct evidence, it can satisfy its burden of proof by showing that the defendant had access to the copyrighted work, and that the two works are substantially similar.

Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
"For purposes of the CFAA, when someone sends an e-mail message from his or her own computer, and the message then is transmitted through a number of other computers until it reaches its destination, the sender is making use of all of those computers, and is therefore ‘accessing’ them.”"

State computer crime laws
In the area of computer crime, the term "access" is often used as an element of a criminal act. For example, under the California computer crime statute, the term "access" is defined as

"to gain entry to, instruct, or communicate with the logical, arithmetical, or memory function resources of a computer, computer system, or computer network."

In the Washington state computer crime law, "access" is defined as:

"to approach, instruct, communicate with, store data in, retrieve data from, or otherwise make use of any resources of a computer, directly or by electronic means."

Government surveillance
In connection with surveillance by law enforcement, the term access has been defined as:

"The technical capability to interface with a communications facility, such as a communications line or switch, so that law enforcement can monitor and receive call setup information and call content."

Information security
Access is the "[a]bility to make use of any information system (IS) resource."

Intelligence
Access is

":a. a way or means of approach to identify a target; or
 * b. exploitable proximity to or ability to approach an individual, facility, or information that enables target to carry out the intended mission."

Internet
"“Individuals have a wide variety of avenues to access cyberspace in general, and the Internet in particular. In terms of physical access, there are two common methods to establish an actual link to the Internet. First, one can use a computer or computer terminal that is directly (and usually permanently) connected to a computer network that is itself directly or indirectly connected to the Internet. Second, one can use a ‘personal computer’ with a ‘modem’ to connect over a telephone line to a larger computer or computer network that is itself directly or indirectly connected to the Internet.”"

Privacy
Access is

"an individual’s ability to view, modify, and contest the accuracy and completeness of personally identifiable information collected about him or her. Access is an element of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD) Fair Information Principles (FIPs)."

Types of access
There are two basic types of access: "view" and "edit."


 * "View" access means that a user is able to view or obtain a copy of the information only.
 * "Edit" access means that a user is able to correct, amend or delete information.