187 UDK: 342.738:004.738.5(497.7) DOI: 10.20544/ICP.8.1.23.P18 ABUSE OF PERSONAL DATA AS A COMPUTER CRIME IN THE REPUBLIC OF NORTH MACEDONIA Marija Gjosheva-Krsteski Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of North Macedonia gjoshevamarija@gmail.com Svetlana Nikoloska Faculty of Security - Skopje svetlananikoloska@hotmail.com Abstract Abuse of personal data is a crime systematized in Chapter 15 of Criminal Offenses against the Freedoms and Rights of Man and Citizen in Article 149 paragraph 2, 3, 4 and 5 where it is provided that this crime can also be committed by breaking into computer system of personal data with the intention of abusing them for personal benefit or the benefit of someone else and achieving some benefit or inflicting damage, contrary to the conditions stipulated by the Law on the Protection of Personal Data. The legislator also foresees responsibility for the officials who committed the crime within the performance of the service, and responsibility is provided if the crime was committed in an attempt and criminal responsibility for the legal entities. According to the means and method of execution, this crime has the characteristics of a computer crime and has its own criminalistic characteristics that are significant in the process of discovery, illumination and provision of evidence, in the case of electronic evidence, on the basis of which criminal proceedings are initiated against the perpetrators. The paper will analyze the criminal characteristics of the Abuse of personal data as a computer crime, where its criminal characteristics (manner, time, place and means of execution) will be analyzed, as well as the personal and status characteristics of the perpetrators and of course the motives for execution. Normative, statistical, comparative and case analysis methods will be applied. Based on the knowledge obtained, conclusions will be drawn for preventive action and awareness raising among citizens for the protection of their personal data, as well as a contribution to the suppression of this crime. Key words: personal data, abuse, computer system, officials, electronic evidence 1. INTRODUCTION The rapid development of information technology and its application in all spheres of social life enables a more efficient functioning of the state administration and all institutions whose competence includes the entry, storage, processing and management of information and data for citizens and legal entities. The changes caused by information technology, which are clearly visible, relate to the way of collecting, storing, processing and presenting information, whereby information becomes a strategic resource that in the post- industrial era can prove valuable and influential to the extent that it represents capital in the industrial age. Thanks to that, the modern information and communication system, used in the right way, can increase the efficiency of a large number of activities. (Petrović; 2001) The increase in efficiency and faster communication are the greatest benefits of information