For centuries, government systems have depended on individuals' signatures to authenticate documents. Even today, experts testify in court whether a sample and a signature were penned by the same person. The government is so dependent on signatures that even when a taxpayer files a tax return electronically, IRS requires the filer to mail in a handwritten signature form. The Justice Department will also be an important player in the digital signature debate because it uses signatures to prosecute. It will be wary of anything prosecutors perceive as threatening to that capability.
Authentication is an important requirement in many situations.
Some 50 programs in 37 agencies have already discussed receiving forms digitally. It will be interesting to see how the political and technical problem solvers work together to meet these challenges. Eshoo and Tauzin aren't the only ones thinking about them. HR 1907, a bill passed by the House and awaiting Senate action, orders the National Institute of Standards and Technology to deal with interoperability problems for digital signatures, although Federal Information Processing Standard 186 covers digital signatures. Meanwhile, the states aren't waiting for Congress.