Welcome - Marc Sel

Worldwide Identity, Authentication and Signature

Basics

The diverging vocabularies for example between EU and US sometimes introduce a lack of clarity. Most EU Member States have some form of identity card, and many countries are introducing electronic identity cards. Other countries opt for identity based on documents such as the driving license. Europe talks about Electronic Signatures (ES), Advanced Electronic Signatures (AES), and Qualified Electronic Signatures (QES). The objective is to give legal effect to non-traditional signatures, if a number of conditions are met. The sought legal effect is the equivalence with the traditional ('wet') signature, and most European Civil Codes have been updated to reflect this. The US Federal ESIGN Act of 2000 defines electronic signatures broadly. In the US, the term 'digital signature' is mostly used to refer to PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) signatures.

Global aspects

Europe - Smart Borders for the Schengen zone

Travellers that want to enter the Schengen zone enter according to the Schengen Border Code (SBC).

US and Canada

Middle East

ASIA-Pacific

Russia

Africa