Legal Framework under Electronic Transactions Ordinance (Cap.553)

The Electronic Transactions Ordinance was passed into laws on 7th January 2000 as part of the major works of the HKSAR Government to promote the cause of electronic commerce, including the delivery of public services through the electronic channel.

provides legal status to electronic records and digital signatures in the conduct of electronic transactions as that of their paper-based counterparts; and

The development of secure e-business framework is one of the main tasks of the Digital 21 IT Strategy of the Hong Kong Government. The Government has adopted the use of the Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) as being the technological framework for the furtherance of secured trading on the electronic framework.

The passage of the Electronic Transactions Ordinance (ETO) has made this become possible as legal recognition is given to the status of the PKI as a certification technology. The ETO is basically modelled upon the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law Model Law on E-commerce (UNCITRAL MODEL LAW ON E-COMMERCE). The ETO provides that digital signatures (as defined by the ETO) and electronic records have the same legal status as that of their paper-based counterparts.

The ETO has at the same time given a legal framework for the establishment of recognised Certification Authority (RCA) to support the conduct of secure electronic transactions. By virtue of the ETO, the Postmaster General is an RCA of Hong Kong and has since its set up begun to accept applications for grant of digital certificates to citizens and organisations in Hong Kong. The certificate is generally known as 'e-Cert'.

Reference Web-site: http://www.info.gov.hk/itbb/english/new/etcontent.htm