A few days ago in New York we attended the event “Esign records” (http://www.americanbanker.com/conferences/esra/ ), organized by ESRA. ESRA, short for Electronic Signature and Records Association (http://www.esignrecords.org), is an American association that brings together trust services and electronic signature companies. This association organizes annual conference opened to non-members , in order to address those issues currently affecting the sector.
One early conclusion was concerns are the same on both sides of the Atlantic. Legal certainty, the legal framework (different depending on the State) or the weight of evidence in court, were issues that appeared in most papers. On the one hand, because early morning presentations by attorneys were focused on the rules of implementation of these services . It was fascinating to know UETA and ESIGN Act real application t in the United States, the two reference between US states. On the other hand we learnt about those legal ruling providing practical criteria to those involved in the development of electronic signature solutions for contracts, quite more abundant than in our country. Further information about Standards and Procedures for electronic Records and Signatures” in the States is available at www.spers.org
The issue of electronic identification and authentication of the signer was another focal point of the event. Both in Europe and the United States there have been multiple attempts to create standards to electronically identify people, though none has actually been adopted. The electronic signature solutions in our country called “recognized” (or its equivalent) have not been adopted neither by European nor by US users, thus forcing the industry to find new ways to get that identification / authentication. Within this regard, it should also be highlighted the interest shown by US companies both on EIDAS and on personal data protection legislation.
American privacy issues versus the more protective European ones were also highlighted. Of course the latest resolution superseding Safe Harbor agreements were also discussed, the extent of the problem becoming evident with the problems American companies setting in Europe have to face.
Security breaches, usability or digital transformation, were among the topics discussed in a two days event that proved to be a successful achievement in terms of number of participants and participating countries, substance, organization and timing.
And last but not least, we enjoyed the city that never sleeps. 😉
So we’re already looking forward next years’ event to come back and to better understand how American companies are facing electronic signatures and trusted services.
Keep tuned.