REGULATIONS ON TRUST SERVICES UNDER THE LAW ON ELECTRONIC TRANSACTIONS 2023

REGULATIONS ON TRUST SERVICES UNDER THE LAW ON ELECTRONIC TRANSACTIONS 2023

The Law on Electronic Transactions No. 20/2023/QH15, promulgated by the National Assembly on June 22, 2023 (effective from July 1, 2024) (the “Law on Electronic Transactions 2023”), introduces many new provisions that establish a favorable legal framework for the transition of activities from the physical environment to the digital environment across all sectors and fields. Accordingly, the new regulations recognize trust services as a conditional business line, as these services play a critical role in building trust and promoting the increasingly widespread use of electronic transactions. In addition, this business sector is considered a new space for enterprises in the context of the accelerated digital transformation in Vietnam. Below, CELIGAL provides an overview of the regulations on trust services under the Law on Electronic Transactions 2023.

Trust services:

Pursuant to Article 28 of the Law on Electronic Transactions 2023, trust services are conditional business lines, including the following types of services:

(i) Timestamping services: services that attach time information to data messages.

(ii) Data message authentication services: including data message storage and integrity verification services, and secure sending and receiving of data message services.

(iii) Public digital signature certification services: services for certifying digital signatures in public activities.

Regulations on business conditions for trust services:

First, organizations providing trust services must obtain a license for trust service provision issued by the Ministry of Information and Communications, except for electronic contract authentication services in commerce, for which the license term is ten (10) years. In particular, organizations providing electronic contract authentication services in commerce must satisfy the conditions for providing electronic contract authentication services as prescribed by the law on e-commerce, as well as the specific business conditions for trust services set out below.

Thereafter, organizations must satisfy the conditions stipulated in Article 29 of the Law on Electronic Transactions 2023, including:

·         Being established as an enterprise and operating lawfully within the territory of Vietnam.

·         Meeting the financial, managerial human resources, and technical conditions appropriate to each type of trust service.

·         Having technical plans for service provision appropriate to each type of trust service.

·         Having plans to ensure readiness for technical connectivity to serve supervision, inspection, and electronic reporting in compliance with state management requirements for trust services.

Details of these conditions will be further guided by the Government through a Decree on electronic signatures and trust services in the near future.

Responsibilities of trust service providers

Pursuant to Article 30 of the Law on Electronic Transactions 2023, trust service providers have the following responsibilities:

·         Publicly disclose the procedures for service registration, relevant forms, and associated fees.

·         Ensure continuous service provision and information reception channels 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.

·         Implement regimes for storage of records and documents, and connect and provide information and report data by electronic means in accordance with the law.

·         Ensure that equipment in the information system is assigned management codes and is ready for technical connectivity to serve state management activities relating to trust services.

·         Implement professional measures, suspend or terminate service provision, or apply other professional measures at the request of competent authorities in accordance with the law.

·         Fulfill the responsibilities of the operator of the information system used for providing trust services, meeting the minimum level 3 network information security requirements as prescribed by the law on network information security.

·         Periodically, on an annual basis, report on trust service provision activities in accordance with regulations of competent authorities.

·         Pay fees for maintaining the digital signature certificate status verification system in accordance with the law on fees and charges.