Everything regarding signatures, both physical and electronic, is based upon trust between the contracting parties. A signature must therefore be both reliable and secure to be used by the parties. In the recent years the use of electronic signatures has increased, and a legal framework has been established by the European union (EU) with the EU-regulation on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the internal market (eIDAS). In the regulation three different categories of electronic signatures occur: the (simple) electronic signature, the advanced electronic signature and the qualified electronic signature. What mainly distinguishes the categories are the level of safety devices connected to the signature. The qualified electronic signature has the highest level of safety devices, followed by the advanced electronic signature, which is followed by the simple electronic signature that has either few or no safety devices. Swedish law differs from the eIDAS since there is no division into different categories. In this essay I examine and evaluate the safety, and thus the reliability of, the different categories of electronic signatures are. This is done through methods established in precedents from Swedish Courts. The conclusion of the essay is that the reliability and safety of the electronic signature correlates with the level of safety devices connected to the signature. If an electronic signature has a higher level of safety devices, it should be regarded as more reliable and secure. I therefore advice contracting parties to use the simple electronic signatures with caution, especially if the contract is of high value, and instead use an electronic signature with more robust safety devices.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-475795 |
| Date | January 2022 |
| Creators | Alhanko, Gustaf |
| Publisher | Uppsala universitet, Juridiska institutionen |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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