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EU Commission hopes e-signature overhaul will boost e-commerce


Cross border e-commerce would be boosted by more effective laws on electronic signatures and authentication, the European Commission has said. It has announced a review of e-signature laws.

"Low levels of consumer and business confidence when making transactions online are one factor holding back the development of the EU's online economy," said a Commission statement. "Relying on secure, trustworthy and easy to use online services is vital for a strong and healthy European Digital Single Market."

The Commission will review the eSignature Directive and has asked businesses and the public to tell it what issues it should consider in that review.

The Commission said that EU-wide standardisation of e-signatures would be essential if they are to lift the volume of cross border online commerce.

"Electronic signatures and electronic identification and authentication can be an important tool to enable both users and providers to rely on secure, trustworthy and easy-to-use online services but must work in all Member States to be effective," said the statement.

"I welcome everybody's views on how we can best verify people's identities and signatures when we buy, sell or undertake administrative procedures online that need to be highly secure," said Neelie Kroes, European Commission Vice President for the Digital Agenda. "I want to help all Europeans get online without feeling that they will fall victim to data frauds or scams."

The consultation process will seek the views of businesses and individuals on whether e-signatures are useful; what would make them more trusted; and what principles should underpin legislation.

It will also deal with the legal status of consent given by web users when they click on 'I accept' buttons on web pages.

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