Classify electronic signatures for safe and healthy use

National Assembly deputies voted to pass the Law on Electronic Transactions (amended).

At the 4th session, the National Assembly discussed and gave many opinions in groups and halls, through which, relevant agencies carefully reviewed the system of legal documents (including 26 laws and detailed regulations) and 9 international treaties) related to the contents mentioned in this draft law.

The National Assembly's verification agency said that, taking into account the opinions of National Assembly deputies, the draft law revised the content of the explanation of the terms "Digital signature" and "Electronic signature" in Article 3. Regarding electronic signatures, there were opinions suggesting the need to clarify the content of digital signatures and electronic signatures; suggesting to clarify whether OTP, SMS or biometric forms are electronic signatures?

In addition, Article 25 of the draft law classifies electronic signatures according to their scope of use, including specialized electronic signatures; public digital signatures and specialized digital signatures for official use. Regarding the proposal to add provisions to create a legal basis for other electronic authentication measures, the National Assembly Standing Committee requested to add Clause 4, Article 25 to stipulate that other forms of authentication by electronic means other than electronic signatures shall be implemented in accordance with the provisions of specialized laws, in accordance with practical implementation.

Chairman of the Vietnam Bar Federation, Do Ngoc Thinh (Khanh Hoa National Assembly Delegation) said: Articles 12, 14 and 22 of the draft law stipulate the value of electronic certificate data messages in a number of cases according to the guidance referring to other relevant legal provisions. However, according to the delegate's analysis, currently the legal provisions on notarization, authentication, litigation and consular certification and consular legalization "do not have provisions for notarization, authentication of data messages, use of data messages as evidence for consular legalization, authentication of an electronic certificate"...

Proposing the need to clearly review the subjects who have the right to convert between paper documents and data messages, Mr. Do Ngoc Thinh and a number of other delegates suggested considering the need to amend regulations at the level of codes and laws or simply issue regulations amending and supplementing instructions at the level of decrees related to notarization, authentication of data messages, use of data messages as evidence or consular legalization, consular authentication of an electronic certificate.

Regarding many new points in the draft law, delegates suggested: In order for the promulgated regulations to be quickly applied in practice, the drafting agency can consult with specialized management agencies such as the Ministry of Justice, and relevant agencies need to carefully study lessons learned from regulations from countries that have applied them; including clearly reviewing the subjects with the right to convert between paper documents and data messages.

Regarding the provisions in Article 25 on electronic signatures, the draft law has added a framework provision on other forms of confirmation by electronic means other than electronic signatures in e-commerce transactions, parties do not use signatures to conduct the purchase and sale of goods on e-commerce platforms... According to the draft law, the form of electronic signature only includes one of the following three types: Specialized electronic signature, public digital signature, specialized digital signature for official service; regarding this content, delegates said that this provision is not close to the practicality of making transactions in the electronic environment. On the other hand, delegates said that scanned signatures and image signatures may not be classified into any type of electronic signature specified in Article 25; therefore, the legal value of these two types of signatures is not qualified for recognition. This is a relatively common type and widely applied in practice.

Commenting on the new points, delegate Tran Thi Thu Phuoc (Kon Tum) also requested the National Assembly agencies and the drafting agencies to carefully assess the current situation, in cyberspace there are many cases of exploitation and fraud in electronic transactions. To ensure the rights of those conducting transactions and build a healthy transaction environment, the delegate said that the draft law needs to supplement regulations on the responsibilities of providers and sanctions for handling intermediary platforms in electronic transactions for violations of the law on digital platforms. There should be clear regulations on the responsibilities of relevant state agencies in verifying, clarifying, monitoring, and handling violations, ensuring safe and healthy transactions in the digital environment.

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