This Act is enacted to encourage the use of an electronic signature, ensure the security of electronic signatures, and facilitate the development of digital economy, smart government and digital service.
If provisions of this Act are not applicable to judicial procedure, a public announcement thereof shall be made by the Judicial Yuan or the Ministry of Justice.

The terms of this Act are defined as follows:
(1) "electronic record" means a record in electronic form, which is made of any text, sound, picture, image, symbol, or other information generated by electronic or other means not directly recognizable by human perceptions, and which is capable of conveying its intended information.
(2) "electronic signature" means data attached to and associated with an electronic record, and executed with the intention of identifying and authenticating the identity or qualification of the signatory of the electronic record and verifying the electronic record.
(3) "digital signature" means a kind of electronic signature generated by the use of mathematic algorithm or other cryptographic means to create a certain length of digital data encrypted by the signatory's private key, and capable of being verified by the public key and supported by a certificate issued by a certification authority.
(4) "encrypt" means to cipher an electronic record by mathematic algorithm or other means.
(5) "certification authority" means a government agency or a juristic person that issues certificates.
(6) "certificate" means an electronic attestation which links signature-verification data to a person and confirms the identity and attribute of that person.
(7) "certification practice statement" means a practice statement announced by a certification authority to specify the practices that the certification authority employs in issuing certificates and managing other certification-related services.
(8) "information system" means a system that generates, sends, receives, stores, or otherwise processes information or data in electronic form.
The competent authority may announce the electronic signature technology with effect of an electronic signature, and review it in a timely manner.

The competent authority of this Act shall be the Ministry of Digital Affairs.