DIGITAL SIGNATURE AND ELECTRONIC DOCUMENTS IN ITALY Prof. Pierluigi Ridolfi AIPA Authority for Information Technology in the Public Administration V. Solferino, Rome- Italy Autorità per l’Informatica nella Pubblica Amministrazione EESSI Meeting Brussels - February 24, 1999

February 24, 1999Digital signature and electronic document in Italy1 THE ITALIAN APPROACH TO DIGITAL SIGNATURE A new Public Administration  Better public services  Better communications  A dedicated IT infrastructure  Electronic documents  Electronic signature

February 24, 1999Digital signature and electronic document in Italy2 LEGAL FRAMEWORK Needed to assure: citizens trust and confidence in the legal value of electronic documents protection of the privacy secure network transfer of legal documents storage of electronic documents long-term archival of electronic documents e-commerce e-banking

February 24, 1999Digital signature and electronic document in Italy3 THE ITALIAN LEGISLATION

February 24, 1999Digital signature and electronic document in Italy4 GENERAL PRINCIPLES Law n° 59 of March 15th, 1997 Section 15(2): “Acts, data and documents created by an entity or a person by means of computer-based systems, contracts drawn up by such means, as well as their storage or transmission by means of computer systems, are legally valid.”

February 24, 1999Digital signature and electronic document in Italy5 GENERAL RULES Presidential Decree 513/97 It allows: digital signature on electronic documents to be as binding as those on paper legal documents to be transmitted electronically encryption systems to be used for digital signatures purposes

February 24, 1999Digital signature and electronic document in Italy6 TECHNICAL RULES Ordinance of Prime Minister (exp. end March) cryptographic key generation digital signature generation and verification provision of certification services digital time-stamping storing of electronic documents electronic documents archival

February 24, 1999Digital signature and electronic document in Italy7 P.A. DOCUMENTS KEY POINTS Legal requirements for the form of the document Certainity of the date Long term preservation

February 24, 1999Digital signature and electronic document in Italy8 ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE According to the italian basic law, a signature expresses the free willing of the signer who in this way approves the content of the document. Consequently: –the electronic signature shall identify with certainty the signer and shall be with certainty binded to the document undersigned; –the document electronically signed shall correspond to what the signer will sign; –the signature shall be an operation the signer performs with a voluntary act.

February 24, 1999Digital signature and electronic document in Italy9 CERTAIN DATE When the document is formed Period of validity An important step in the relations between private bodies and P.A.

February 24, 1999Digital signature and electronic document in Italy10 LONG TERM PRESERVATION Validity period of the signature keys Validity period of the certification keys Time period for which the cryptographic system can be considered sure

February 24, 1999Digital signature and electronic document in Italy11 WHAT IS NEEDED Inter-operability of the devices for signature creation and verification Inter-operability between the qualified certification services providers Standard format for documents

February 24, 1999Digital signature and electronic document in Italy12 STANDARDS Format of electronic signatures Format of certificates Means for access and verify certificates Cross-certification Formato of documents Digital time-stamping