(a)
Legal
Basis. The Alabama Uniform Electronic Transactions Act
("UETA"), Section 8-lA-l et seq. of the Code of Ala.
1975, enacted in 2002, is intended to facilitate the use of
electronic documents in business, commercial, and governmental transactions.
The Act promotes but not require the use of electronic signatures and creation
of electronic documents. Section 8-lA-18(a) provides that "each government
agency of this state with rule-making authority...may determine by rule
whether, and the extent to which, it will send and accept electronic records
and electronic signatures to and from other persons and otherwise create,
generate, communicate, store, process, use, and rely upon electronic records
and electronic signatures." Section
8-1A-12(a) provides that an electronic record meets other state law requirements for
record retention if the electronic record both accurately reflects the original
document and is accessible for later reference. Section 8-lA-13 provides that
an electronic record may not be excluded from evidence in court solely because
it is in electronic form. Section
8-1A-12(g) provides that the State Records Commission
is not precluded by the Act from placing additional requirements for record
retention on agencies.
(b)
Definitions. Except as
otherwise specified in this rule, undefined terms have the respective meanings
set forth in the Act. Notwithstanding the forgoing, the following words were
used in this rule shall have the following meanings:
1. Act or UETA. Alabama Uniform Electronic
Transaction Act, Code of Ala. 1975, Section 8-lA-l et
seq.
2. OIT. The State of Alabama
Office of Information Technology, as established in Code of Ala.
1975, Section
41-28-1.
3. Records Disposition Authority or RDA. An
agency-level records retention schedule issued by the State Records Commission
under the authority granted by the Code of Ala. 1975,
Sections
41-13-5 and
41-13-20 through 21.
4. State Records
Commission. The State Records Commission, as established in Code of
Ala. 1975, Section
41-13-20.
(c)
Use of
Electronic Signatures and Electronic
Records. In
accordance with Section
8-1A-18(a) of the Code of Ala. 1975, the Department of Education
hereby establishes that to the fullest extent permitted by the Act and except
as otherwise provided in this administrative rule, the Department of Education
will send and accept electronic records and electronic signatures to and from
other persons and otherwise create, generate, communicate, store, process, use,
and rely upon electronic records and electronic signatures. In accordance with
Section 8-lA-18(b), the Department of Education use of electronic records and
electronic signatures will comply with the following requirements:
1. Provide an identical copy of the original
signed and executed document to the signer.
2. Ensure non-repudiation; that the signer
cannot deny the fact that he or she electronically signed the
document.
3. Capture information
about the process used to capture signatures (i.e. create an audit trail),
including but not limited to:
(i) IP
address
(ii) Date and time stamp of
all events
(iii) All web pages,
documents, disclosures, and other information presented
(iv) What each party acknowledged, agreed to,
and signed
4.
Encrypt, end-to-end, all communication within the signature
process. Encryption technologies shall comply with state
encryption standards, including the requirements that cryptographic modules be
validated to the current Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS).
The information contained in this subsection constitutes the
minimum that is required for a valid electronic signature. Any authorized
person within the Department of Education may require additional reasonable
information from a signer in order to establish the identity and signature
authority of the signer. The Department of Education may provide additional
requirements subject to a State of Alabama information technology policy as
promulgated by OIT.
(d)
Creation and Retention
of Electronic Records. In accordance with
Section 8-lA-17 of the Code of Ala. 1975, the
Department of Education hereby establishes that to the fullest extent permitted
by the Act and except as otherwise provided in this administrative rule, it
will create and retain electronic records and convert written records to
electronic records. Any such electronic records will be retained in compliance
with State Records Commission requirements, including the records retention
schedules set forth in the Department of Education Records Disposition
Authority. The Department of Education may create a retrievable electronic
record or copy, by optical scan or otherwise, of paper original documents or
make other images or paper copies which accurately reproduce the originals and
may destroy original paper documents so copied as specified in the RDA.
Electronic copies of original documents, when certified by an authorized the
Department of Education record custodian, are admissible in the Department of
Education administrative proceedings as authorized by the Act as though they
were the original document. The electronic document retains the confidential or
public document characteristics of the original document.
