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Namibia to recognise electronic signatures under new Electronic Transactions Act

Namibia will soon align with global standards by recognising electronic signatures under the Electronic Transaction Act of 2019, which is yet to be enacted.

In December, the regulations for these signatures were gazetted and consultations will take place at the end of this month.

The Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (Cran) last week said this is the first comprehensive piece of legislation in Namibia that specifically regulates electronic signatures.

“Prior to this act, there was no dedicated legal framework addressing the use and recognition of electronic signatures within the country,” Cran spokesperson Mufaro Nesongano said.

He said electronic signatures need to be reliable and capable of identifying the signatory.

“It [the act] also establishes guidelines for the use of electronic signatures in various contexts, such as contracts and legal documents, thereby promoting the growth of e-commerce and digital services in Namibia,” he said.

Nesongano said this legislation aligns with international standards and practices, ensuring that electronic signatures are recognised as just as valid and enforceable as traditional handwritten signatures under Namibian law.

Ministries such as the Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security currently do not recognise electronic signatures until the Electronic Transaction Act of 2019 is fully enforced.

“The electronic signature chapter of the Electronic Transactions Act has not been enacted yet.

Therefore, electronic signatures are not currently recognised,” executive director of home affairs, immigration, safety and security Etienne Maritz says. He says the ministry is actively digitalising its services.

“Currently, the public can access online services for passport applications, holiday visas, temporary employment permits and the ministry is now working on implementing the visa-on-arrival service,” he says.

Maritz says the ministry is also developing an online application service for duplicate identity documents.

The act defines an electronic signature as data “including a sound, symbol or process, executed or adopted to identify a person and to indicate that person’s approval or intention in respect of the information contained in a data message and which is attached to or logically associated with that data message”.

The regulations state that electronic signatures will be legally binding, regardless of the signer’s location.

“An electronic signature created or used outside Namibia has the same legal effect in Namibia as an electronic signature created or used in Namibia if it offers a substantially equivalent level of reliability,” the gazette reads.

Sigitised and digital signatures are included in the new regulations.

“A digitised signature [is] the digital reproduction of a handwritten signature, e.g. faxed signature, a picture of a signature or a signature capture tablet,” it reads. Another is a biometric signature, which is described as a general description of an electronic signature made with a biometric “body measurement, such as a fingerprint, retina scans, iris scans, finger vein scans, facial recognition, voice recognition, hand geometry and even earlobe geometry, as an act of authentication or acceptance”.

One-time password tokens are also included in this legislation.

“[It] is a security device or software program that produces new single-use passwords or passcodes at preset time intervals . . . the gazette states.

It further states that the signer must exercise reasonable care to avoid the unauthorised access and use of their signature.

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