The IT Law Wiki
The IT Law Wiki

Overview[]

The California digital signature regulations, consisting of California Government Code §16.5 and the regulations adopted by the California Secretary of State, affect public entities in California, which are defined by the Government Code as the State, the Regents of the University of California, a county, city, district, public authority, public agency, and any other political subdivision or public corporation in the State.

Government Code §16.5 specifies that the use of digital signatures shall be at the option of the parties involved in the transaction. Before beginning a transaction from paper documents to electronic ones, public entities must ensure that all the parties to the transaction are willing to use digital signatures.

These regulations allow public entities to utilize digital signatures that are created by one of two different technologiespublic key cryptography (PKC) and signature dynamics.

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