What is the legal status of documents signed with digital signatures?
If digital signatures are to replace handwritten signatures they must have the same legal status as handwritten signatures (i.e., documents signed with digital signatures must be legally binding). NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) has stated that its proposed Digital Signature Standard should be capable of “proving to a third party that data was actually signed by the generator of the signature.” Furthermore, U.S. federal government purchase orders will be signed by any such standard; this implies that the government will support the legal authority of digital signatures in the courts. Some preliminary legal research has also resulted in the opinion that digital signatures would meet the requirements of legally binding signatures for most purposes, including commercial use as defined in the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC). A GAO (Government Accounting Office) decision requested by NIST also opines that digital signatures will meet the legal standards of handwritten si
If digital signatures are to replace handwritten signatures they must have the same legal status as handwritten signatures, i.e., documents signed with digital signatures must be legally binding. NIST has stated that its proposed Digital Signature Standard should be capable of “proving to a third party that data was actually signed by the generator of the signature. ” Furthermore, U.S. federal government purchase orders will be signed by any such standard; this implies that the government will support the legal authority of digital signatures in the courts. Some preliminary legal research has also resulted in the opinion that digital signatures would meet the requirements of legally binding signatures for most purposes, including commercial use as defined in the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC). A GAO (Government Accounting Office) decision requested by NIST also opines that digital signatures will meet the legal standards of handwritten signatures. However, since the validity of document
