The Cabinet on Thursday approved a slew of draft amendments to the Electronic Signatures Act (電子簽章法), specifying the legality of electronic signatures and introducing provisions to pave the way for their international interoperability.
The draft amendments to the act, a law that has been in effect since 2002, but has not undergone any amendments to date, were proposed by the Ministry of Digital Affairs and are to be sent to the Legislative Yuan for review, the Executive Yuan said.
Specifying that electronic signatures and signatures on paper have equal functionality and legality, the draft bill introduces a key provision stating that “electronic documents and electronic signatures shall not be denied solely because of their electronic form,” according to a document submitted to the Cabinet by the ministry.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
To facilitate mutual recognition of electronic signatures between Taiwan and the international community, the government would also be able to acknowledge the legality of electronic signatures issued by overseas and domestic institutions that comply with international standards, set by organizations such as the EU or the International Organization for Standardization, a ministry statement said.
“In terms of international application, as long as the certification technologies of both parties are interoperable and security conditions are equivalent, Taiwan’s courts can recognize the legality of the electronic documents,” the ministry said, including examples such as Acrobat Sign and DocuSign.
Deputy Minister of Digital Affairs Lee Huai-jen (李懷仁) told a news conference that one of the key points of the amendments is to work toward the integration of certification technologies with other nations.
He said that once certification authorities in foreign nations receive Taiwan’s approval, Taiwanese and foreign entities could use electronic signatures on their official documents.
Digital signatures are more secure than general electronic signatures in terms of effectiveness, strength and security standards, because digital signatures utilize encrypted private keys and are issued by government-approved certification authorities, Lee said.
Digital signatures use algorithms or other methods to process an electronic document into digital data and encrypt the signatory’s private key to create an electronic signature, the draft amendments say.
Minister of Digital Affairs Audrey Tang (唐鳳) said at a news conference at the ministry on Thursday afternoon that she had received support from different political parties regarding the draft amendments and hoped to pass them in this legislative session.
“In terms of the public, in any situation requiring a signature or seal, after the passage of the new [draft amendments to the] Electronic Signatures Act, individuals would be able to use electronic signatures as long as the other party does not object,” Tang said.
The ministry would put procedures in place to ensure digital signatures are verified before accounts associated with them are able to publish investment advertisements on Facebook, Google or Line — the three major online advertising platforms in Taiwan — to reduce investment fraud and fake advertising, she said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday voiced dissatisfaction with the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans- Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), whose latest meeting, concluded earlier the same day, appeared not to address the country’s application. In a statement, MOFA said the CPTPP commission had "once again failed to fairly process Taiwan’s application," attributing the inaction to the bloc’s "succumbing to political pressure," without elaborating. Taiwan submitted its CPTPP application under the name "Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu" on Sept. 22, 2021 -- less than a week after China
THE GOOD WORD: More than 100 colleges on both sides of the Pacific will work together to bring students to Taiwan so they can learn Mandarin where it is spoken A total of 102 universities from Taiwan and the US are collaborating in a push to promote Taiwan as the first-choice place to learn Mandarin, with seven Mandarin learning centers stood up in the US to train and support teachers, the Foundation for International Cooperation in Higher Education of Taiwan (FICHET) said. At the annual convention of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages held over the weekend in New Orleans, Louisiana, a Taiwan Pavilion was jointly run by 17 representative teams from the FICHET, the Overseas Community Affairs Council, the Steering Committee for the Test of Proficiency-Huayu, the
A home-style restaurant opened by a Taiwanese woman in Quezon City in Metro Manila has been featured in the first-ever Michelin Guide honoring exceptional restaurants in the Philippines. The restaurant, Fong Wei Wu (豐味屋), was one of 74 eateries to receive a “Michelin Selected” honor in the guide, while one restaurant received two Michelin stars, eight received one star and 25 were awarded a “Bib Gourmand.” The guide, which was limited to restaurants in Metro Manila and Cebu, was published on Oct. 30. In an interview, Feng Wei Wu’s owner and chef, Linda, said that as a restaurateur in her 60s, receiving an
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) on Monday announced light shows and themed traffic lights to welcome fans of South Korean pop group Twice to the port city. The group is to play Kaohsiung on Saturday as part of its “This Is For” world tour. It would be the group’s first performance in Taiwan since its debut 10 years ago. The all-female group consists of five South Koreans, three Japanese and Tainan’s Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜), the first Taiwan-born and raised member of a South Korean girl group. To promote the group’s arrival, the city has been holding a series of events, including a pop-up
RSS