Cryptography Reference
In-Depth Information
compares their data fields to the corresponding database records. Whether
caused by malice, human error, or system failure, discrepancies between
the signed ordonnance s and the database can thus be detected early. The
approach is an innovative twist on the original cryptographic signature
model: rather than solely expecting digital signatures to perform as evi-
dence in a court of law, the land registry uses them to provide continuous
authentication services, that is, regularly performed declarations of the
integrity and origin of the data. Users are thus insured that the contents
of the database reflect as faithfully as possible the ordonnance s signed by
the judge.
In March 2002, the Alsace-Moselle registry law was amended in order
to recognize the legal value of the land register held on data-processing
media and its conformance with the new articles of the Civil Code relative
to electronic signatures. It also appointed the GILFAM as a permanent
public body, with the responsibility of ensuring the long-term mainte-
nance of the computing infrastructure necessary to the operation of the
land registry.
Conclusion
The case studies offered in this chapter have considerable implications for
our understanding of the role of signatures in the production of reliable
written evidence. The working group's investigations and the practical
issues faced by public officers in the production of electronically signed
documents tested both the possibilities and limitations of the crypto-
graphic signature model. By far, the most significant adaptation to the
model relates to the technical conditions necessary for the long-term leg-
ibility of electronic documents. As the notarial application decree recog-
nized, these conditions will involve periodic migration of a document's
encoding format. The consequences of this are important: the crypto-
graphic demonstration of integrity resulting from the performance of sig-
nature verification over a self-identical string of bits cannot be sustained
over the long term. Thus for all but the shortest legal retention require-
ments, the event of signature verification will have to be merely docu-
mented, rather than preserved for eventual litigation. 42
This is also the conclusion reached by the U.S. National Archives and
Records Administration (NARA), the federal agency responsible for the
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