2-20-103. Definitions. As used in this part, unless the context indicates otherwise, the following definitions apply:
     (1) "Certificate" means an electronic record that:
     (a) identifies the certification authority issuing it;
     (b) identifies its subscriber;
     (c) contains a public key that corresponds to a private key under the control of the subscriber;
     (d) specifies its operational period; and
     (e) is digitally signed by the certification authority issuing it.
     (2) "Certification authority" means a person who authorizes and causes the issuance of a certificate.
     (3) "Cryptosystem" means a system that transforms or encrypts information for the purpose of secrecy or authenticity. The term includes a computer-based security procedure capable of generating and using a key pair.
     (4) "Digital signature" means a type of electronic signature that encrypts a record by using a cryptosystem in a manner that a person who has the unencrypted record, the encrypted record, and the signer's key can accurately determine:
     (a) whether the encryption of the record to an electronic record was created using the private key that corresponds to the signer's public key; and
     (b) whether the record has been altered since the record was encrypted into an electronic record.
     (5) "Electronic" includes electrical, digital, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, or any other form of technology that entails capabilities similar to these technologies.
     (6) "Electronic record" means a record that is created or stored electronically and that is retrievable in perceivable form.
     (7) "Electronic signature" means an electronic signal attached to or logically associated with an electronic record and that is:
     (a) unique to the person using it;
     (b) capable of verification;
     (c) under the sole control of the person using it; and
     (d) linked to the electronic record in such a way that if the electronic record is changed, the signature is invalidated.
     (8) "Key" means a password or table used to decipher encrypted electronic data.
     (9) "Key pair" means a private key and its corresponding public key in a cryptosystem, as part of which the public key verifies the signature made by the private key.
     (10) "Local government unit" means a city, county, town, unincorporated municipality or village, or a special taxing district and any commission, board, bureau, or other office of any of them.
     (11) "Party" means a person who is a party to a transaction with a state agency or local government unit.
     (12) "Person" means an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, state agency, local government unit, government of another state or of the United States, or political subdivision of this or another state or any other legal or commercial entity.
     (13) "Private key" is a key of a key pair used to create a digital signature.
     (14) "Public key" is the key of a key pair used to verify a digital signature.
     (15) "Qualified security procedure" means a security procedure capable of producing reliable evidence that an electronic record or electronic signature has not been altered.
     (16) "Record" includes any paper, correspondence, form, book, photograph, microfilm, map, drawing, or other document, including a copy of any of them, that has been made or received by a state agency or local government unit in connection with the transaction of the official business of that entity and all other documents required by law to be filed with or kept by that agency.
     (17) "Repository" means a person that maintains a registry of certification authorities.
     (18) "Rule of law" means a statute, regulation, ordinance, common-law rule, court decision, ordinance, rule, or other law enacted, established, or adopted by a state agency, court, or political subdivision of this state.
     (19) "Secure electronic record" is an electronic record that is transmitted using a qualified security procedure.
     (20) "Secure electronic signature" is a digital signature that is transmitted using a qualified security procedure.
     (21) "Security procedure" is a methodology or procedure used for the purpose of:
     (a) verifying that an electronic record is that of a specific person; and
     (b) detecting an error or alteration in the communication, content, or storage of an electronic record since a specific point in time.
     (22) "State agency" means a department, board, commission, authority, or other governmental entity of the executive branch of state government, including the Montana university system.
     (23) "Subscriber" means a person holding a private key that corresponds to a public key listed or identified in a certificate and who is the person to whom digitally signed records verified by reference to the certificate are to be attributed.
     (24) "Trustworthy manner" means electronic records and electronic signatures transmitted by a qualified security procedure.
     (25) "Verify a digital signature" means to use the public key listed in a valid certificate, by means of a security procedure, to evaluate a digitally signed electronic record so that the evaluation concludes that:
     (a) the digital signature was created using the private key corresponding to the public key listed in the certificate; and
     (b) the electronic record has not been altered since its digital signature was created.

     History: En. Sec. 3, Ch. 365, L. 1999.