Big questions to be answered

The article on this page grew out of a comment piece that Brendan Scott wrote for the September/October 1998 issue of Image & Data Manager on digital signatures (see page 16 for this issue's feature).

"Digital signatures in general have no 'personality' as such - they're just numbers," he said. "Unlike a handwritten signature, they are not imbibed with any aspect of the person applying them. As such, it is easier for a rogue to assert that they are the person associated with the particular signature."

Mr Scott also questioned the viability of digital signatures in court, as well as raising privacy concerns which are expanded upon in this issue.

"What happens if the Certification Authority is in the private sector, rather than the public? Can they sell their lists? How do you store electronically signed documents? Are your archival procedures up to the task?" he asked.