CONFIDENCE
IN THE SECURITY OF ELECTRONIC TRANSACTIONS
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One of the priorities stated in the government's
plan for the information society (RE/SO 2007) is the creation
of a climate of confidence by establishing clear ground rules
for the players concerned and ensuring effective consumer protection.
The same applies to the development of new ITC-based applications
and services, especially those that are helpful to the modernisation
of public services.
However, lack of confidence in the security
of electronic transactions is the main factor holding back growth
in these applications and services.
Both the technology and the legal environment,
recently enhanced by legislation on confidence in the digital
economy, now provide a framework offering a basis of trust that
is as reliable as traditional methods, especially conventional
paper proof.
The obstacles to the widespread use of secure
electronic services are primarily organisational and economic.
First, no application has yet achieved critical
size capable of guaranteeing the long-term future of secure infrastructure
or creating a sufficient follow-through effect among users.
Second, the lack of interoperability among major
public applications like income tax, VAT and social security returns
increases the complexity and the implementation costs beyond what
would be acceptable to most users.
French players with an interest in secure transactions
are taking a position with regard to these technologies by extending
their services to businesses, local authorities and government
agencies, in contexts of both fixed and mobile use, but they are
currently encountering the greatest difficulties.
As it is a first-time market, government action
to encourage the emergence of long-term players and organise the
secure infrastructure market may be legitimate.
Lastly, the fact that most secure technical
and organisational hierarchies and programmes are of private-sector
and US origin is likely to undermine the confidence of many users
when the software and practices are not perfectly transparent
and capable of audit.
