GUIDEC - General Usage for International Digitally Ensured Commerce (Version II) 01/10/2001

The first edition of the GUIDEC aimed to balance different legal
traditions and cover both the civil and common-law treatment of the subject, as well as pertinent international principles. By doing so, it presented both business and governments with a comprehensive statement of best practices for a global infrastructure. This second version builds on the foundation created by the previous document, and expands areas of direct relevance to the business community. It includes the potential of additional technologies such as biometrics in establishing trustworthy digital transactions as well as taking cognizance of policy developments such as the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) model laws and the European Union Directives.
The principle objective of the GUIDEC is to establish a general framework for the authentication of digital messages, based upon existing law and practice in different legal systems. In so doing, the GUIDEC provides a detailed explanation of principles, particularly as they relate to information system security issues, public key cryptographic techniques and emerging biometric capabilities. It also provides
succinct standard practices or recommendations relating to secure authentication and processing of digital information.