The organizers of the seminar at which the International Commerce eXchange, ICX, was launched (see above), had hoped the British government would be able to announce its policy for secure electronic commerce during the event. However, Nigel Hickson, head of the information security policy group at the UK’s Department of Trade and Industry, presented Westminster’s apologies for its inability to make any announcement and promised a statement was ‘very near’. Hickson was able to outline the British government’s thinking on the subject, however, revealing what will ‘probably’ be in the policy statement. Hickson said Westminster can be expected to propose. There are basically four major points likely to be covered: separation of the issues of digital signatures, which are a necessary aspect of e-commerce security, and encryption, where questions of law enforcement and privacy are also raised; voluntary licensing for certification authorities, trusted third parties and key recovery agents; legal recognition of digital signatures, i.e. making them as legally binding as normal signatures on documents, and access to keys for law enforcement organizations within a framework of formal permission from the courts. As for timeframes, the DTI official said the government would probably make the policy statement in response to a parliamentary question shortly, allowing for debate running through the summer months, then formulate legislation towards the end of the year. Hickson said UK Parliamentary under-secretary of State for Small Firms, Trade & Industry Barbara Roche, is also keen to see a European Union directive on electronic commerce security issued during the UK’s six-month presidency, possibly during the next telecoms council meeting on May 19.
