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Alternative | Binding, Document Integrity and Audit Trail Mechanisms | Confidence | Characteristics |
|---|---|---|---|
Typical online system practices | write the individual's identifier, the signed document, and contextual information into the database as a relation, with typical constraints, access controls, and security procedures | low | fast implementation, |
Secure online system practices | rigorous constraints, access controls, and security procedures, including audit trails in the database layer (in addition to any controls in the application layer), trusted time sources, logging of security events in the database layer and/or the system software layer, etc. | moderate | moderately expensive to implement and maintain, |
Package with a Digital Signature | pre-process the document using a mathematical function that would imprint the identifier and contextual data on the document, and then store the resulting imprinted document along with the identifier and contextual data, which should include a trusted timestamp. | high | expensive to implement and maintain, security characteristics are complex and unfamiliar |
USPO USPS Electronic Postmark | submit the document, identifier and contextual data to the US Postal Service Electronic Postmark system and store the resulting confirmation code with the signed document | highest | inexpensive to implement but expensive to maintain, security characteristics are based on trust in USPO the institution of the USPS |