Digital Signature and Electronic Authentication Law

Digital Signature And Electronic Authentication Law (SEAL) of 1998 was introduced to the United States Senate, as S.1594, and was followed closely by H.R. 3472 which was introduced to the House of Representatives. This Bill sought to update the Bank Protection Act of 1968 in regards to electronic authentication techniques by financial institutions, and for other purposes.^[1]

Sections from the law

The definition of electronic document described in Sec 3(f) of the SEAL

^[1]

(f) DOCUMENT- The term `document' means any message, instrument, information, data, image, text, program, software, database, or the similar item, regardless of how created, if such item can be retrieved or displayed in a tangible form.

Electronic authentication technologies are compliant with Sec 3(g)

(g) ELECTRONIC AUTHENTICATION- The term `electronic authentication' means a cryptographic or other secure electronic technique that allows the user of the technique

(1) to authenticate the identity of or information associated with a sender of a document

(2) to determine that a document was not altered, changed, or modified during its transmission to a recipient, or

(3) to verify that a document received was sent by the identified party claiming to be the sender.

Section 6 of the Digital Signature And Electronic Authentication Law (SEAL) states the electronic authentication may be used if an agreement to use them was made by all parties.

(a) ELECTRONIC AUTHENTICATION OF DOCUMENTS, INFORMATION, AND IDENTITY-

(1) IN GENERAL- A financial institution may use electronic authentication in the conduct of its business if it has entered into an agreement regarding the use of electronic authentication with any counterparty, or if it has established a banking, financial, or transactional system using electronic authentication.

Forms of electronic authentication

• Biometric
• Clickwrap
• Password
• Public key infrastructure (PKI)
• Security token

References

1. Digital Signature And Electronic Authentication Law (SEAL) of 1998

External links

• Federal Reserve Bank of New York on SEAL
• Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee discusses SEAL
• Text of the law at the Library of Congress