Electronic Frontiers Georgia salutes Georgia's Senate Science and Technology Committee. Led by Sen. Jim Tysinger, this committee has proposed Senate Bill 103 to enable and study Electronic Signature Technology. This law will give electronic signatures the same force of law as written signatures. The law addresses privacy and consumer protection concerns EFGA voiced in past testimony to the Senate committee.

Expected to become law within a few weeks, this bill

• Enables Electronic Signatures
• Authorizes pilot projects
• Educate the General Assembly
• Establishes oversight with the Georgia Information Technology Policy Council
• Creates the Electronic Commerce Study Committee

This includes the Feb 5, 1997 revisions that included moving oversight from the overworked Secretary of State's office to the Georgia Information Technology Policy Council, and the revision that makes the bill effective upon the Governor's signature.

Mike Hale, Georgia's Chief Information Officer (CIO), is working with industry to establish pilot projects for Electronic Signature. If you organization is interested, Mike encourages you to get in touch with him.

For more information on Digital Signatures, and some history of this matter, please see our old web pages on the subject.

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