Singapore legislation

Section 20

Secure digital signature

When any portion of an electronic record is signed with a digital signature, the digital signature shall be treated as a secure electronic signature with respect to such portion of the record, if —

(a)

the digital signature was created during the operational period of a valid certificate and is verified by reference to the public key listed in such certificate; and

(b)

the certificate is considered trustworthy, in that it is an accurate binding of a public key to a person’s identity because —

(i)

the certificate was issued by a licensed certification authority operating in compliance with the regulations made under section 42 ;

(ii)

the certificate was issued by a certification authority outside Singapore recognised for this purpose by the Controller pursuant to regulations made under section 43;

(iii)

the certificate was issued by a department or ministry of the Government, an organ of State or a statutory corporation approved by the Minister to act as a certification authority on such conditions as he may by regulations impose or specify; or

(iv)

the parties have expressly agreed between themselves (sender and recipient) to use digital signatures as a security procedure, and the digital signature was properly verified by reference to the sender’s public key.

Read in full context — Electronic Transactions Act →