Electronic Transactions Act · 2008 Revised Edition · Part VIII · Duties of Certification Authorities
29. Issuing of certificate
Official textFrom Attorney General's Chambers, unchanged
A certification authority may issue a certificate to a prospective subscriber only after the certification authority —
certification authority
“certification authority” means a person who or an organisation that issues a certificate;
has received a request for issuance from the prospective subscriber; and
has —
if it has a certification practice statement, complied with all of the practices and procedures set forth in such certification practice statement including procedures regarding identification of the perspective subscriber; or
Electronic Transactions 26 2008 Ed.
in the absence of a certification practice statement, complied with the conditions in subsection (2).
In the absence of a certification practice statement, the certification authority shall confirm by itself or through an authorised agent that —
certification practice statement
“certification practice statement” means a statement issued by a certification authority to specify the practices that the certification authority employs in issuing certificates;
the prospective subscriber is the person to be listed in the certificate to be issued;
if the prospective subscriber is acting through one or more agents, the subscriber authorised the agent to have custody of the subscriber’s private key and to request issuance of a certificate listing the corresponding public key;
the information in the certificate to be issued is accurate;
the prospective subscriber rightfully holds the private key corresponding to the public key to be listed in the certificate;
the prospective subscriber holds a private key capable of creating a digital signature; and
the public key to be listed in the certificate can be used to verify a digital signature affixed by the private key held by the prospective subscriber.
Terms defined in s 2
certification authority
Defined · s 2“certification authority” means a person who or an organisation that issues a certificate;
certification practice statement
Defined · s 2“certification practice statement” means a statement issued by a certification authority to specify the practices that the certification authority employs in issuing certificates;
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;
information
Defined · s 2“information” includes data, text, images, sound, codes, computer programs, software and databases;
private key
Defined · s 2“private key” means the key of a key pair used to create a digital signature;
public key
Defined · s 2“public key” means the key of a key pair used to verify a digital signature;
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;
verify a digital signature
Defined · s 2“verify a digital signature”, in relation to a given digital signature, record and public key, means to determine accurately — (a) that the digital signature was created using the private key corresponding to the public key listed in the certificate; and Electronic Transactions 11 2008 Ed. (b) the record has not been altered since its digital signature was created. Purposes and construction.
Part IX
Duties of Subscribers
Part XI
Government Use of Electronic Records and Signatures
Part XII