Electronic Transactions Act · 2008 Revised Edition · Part VI · Effect of Digital Signatures
Section 22
Official textFrom Attorney General's Chambers, unchanged
Unless otherwise provided by any rule of law or by contract, a person relying on a digitally signed electronic record assumes the risk that the digital signature is invalid as a signature or authentication of the signed electronic record, if reliance on the digital signature is not reasonable under the circumstances having regard to the following factors —
facts which the person relying on the digitally signed electronic record knows or has notice of, including all facts listed in the certificate or incorporated in it by reference;
signed
“signed” or “signature” includes any symbol executed or adopted, or any methodology or procedure employed or adopted, by a person with the intention of authenticating a record, including electronic or digital methods;
the value or importance of the digitally signed record, if known;
record
“record” means information that is inscribed, stored or otherwise fixed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form;
the course of dealing between the person relying on the digitally signed electronic record and the subscriber and any available indicia of reliability or unreliability apart from the digital signature;
electronic record
“electronic record” means a record generated, communicated, received or stored by electronic, magnetic, optical or other means in an information system or for transmission from one information system to another;
and
usage of trade, particularly trade conducted by trustworthy systems or other electronic means.
Terms defined in s 2
digital signature
Defined · s 2“digital signature” means an electronic signature consisting of a transformation of an electronic record using an asymmetric cryptosystem and a hash function such that a person having the initial untransformed electronic record and the signer’s public key can accurately determine — (a) whether the transformation was created using the private key that corresponds to the signer’s public key; and (b) whether the initial electronic record has been altered since the transformation was made;
electronic record
Defined · s 2“electronic record” means a record generated, communicated, received or stored by electronic, magnetic, optical or other means in an information system or for transmission from one information system to another;
record
Defined · s 2“record” means information that is inscribed, stored or otherwise fixed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form;
signature
Defined · s 2“signed” or “signature” includes any symbol executed or adopted, or any methodology or procedure employed or adopted, by a person with the intention of authenticating a record, including electronic or digital methods;
signed
Defined · s 2“signed” or “signature” includes any symbol executed or adopted, or any methodology or procedure employed or adopted, by a person with the intention of authenticating a record, including electronic or digital methods;
subscriber
Defined · s 2“subscriber” means a person who is the subject named or identified in a certificate issued to him and who holds a private key that corresponds to a public key listed in that certificate;
Part VII
General Duties Relating to Digital Signatures
Part VIII
Duties of Certification Authorities
Part IX
Duties of Subscribers
Part XI
Government Use of Electronic Records and Signatures
Part XII