Very soon, you may have to think twice before you click a button because the federal government is proposing a new law to make electronic documents and signatures as valid as their paper and ink counterparts, Nigeria CommunicationsWeek has learnt.
In commerce and the law, a signature on a document is an indication that the person adopts the intentions recorded in the document.
The proposed law is an effective means to ensuring secure electronic transactions and explicit recognition and support of burgeoning business activities and transactions conducted via the Internet.
It also represents the first major step at amending the Evidence Act to make copies of documentary evidence admissible in courts where the original had been lost, unavailable or in custody of public officials.
At present, only certified true copies of public documents are admissible as evidence in Nigerian courts.
Nigeria CommunicationsWeek gathered that the bill being packaged by National Information Technology Development Agency (Nitda) will also give teeth to section 37 of the Nigerian Constitution of 1999 which states: “The privacy of citizens, their homes, correspondence, telephone conversations and telegraphic communications is hereby guaranteed and protected.”
The Nitda e-Transaction bill seeks to provide a regulatory framework for conducting transactions using electronic or other media; the protection of the rights of consumers and other parties in electronic transactions and services; the protection of personal data; and facilitating electronic commerce in Nigeria.
Indeed, a large number of people may be using electronic signatures every day not even aware that they are doing so.
For example, an ‘I accept’ button used when buying goods or services online, PIN code and digital signatures are all forms of electronic signature.
Nigeria CommunicationsWeek gathered that electronic signatures have a variety of uses, and common ones (for example) relate to their use in e-government and online banking.
It is coming especially now that Nigeria has launched her e-government initiatives. Equally, personal e-banking is now extremely common, often based on simple forms of electronic signature.
The proposed law is however coming almost 15 years after some countries in the world have recognized electronic signature legislation as a vehicle for advancing e-commerce.
Nigeria CommunicationsWeek gathered that absence of the law in the country has slowed electronic transactions and frustrated judicial processes.
When the law comes into effect, electronic sound, symbol or process associated with an agreement or transaction will be recognized as electronic signatures.
Courts in Nigeria will also find that a wide range of things qualify as electronic signatures.
It will ease the shortcomings of the Evidence Act made by the British colonial government in 1945 which has outlived its usefulness.
