Clifford Chance

Electronic trust services: risks and advantages in business transactions

24 March 2017

The EU Regulation on electronic identification and trust services ("eIDAS" Regulation, no. 910/2014), which came into effect on 1 July 2016, has introduced a set of electronic trust services to give legal certainty and reliable identification in the context of electronic transactions.

In addition to electronic signatures, which ensure well-know advantages in terms of legal certainty of the signature and execution by parties or their representatives no matter where they are in the world, eIDAS provides for:

- electronic seals, which give evidence (i) that the electronic document originates from a legal person and (ii) of the authenticity and integrity of the electronic document's content, because any subsequent change in the document will be detectable;   

- electronic time stamps, which ensure the legal evidence of the date of creation of the electronic document.

 

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