Standards for the Preservation of Evidence and Trust for Electronic Records

Information technology provides the elementary basis for efficient business processes in administration, business and science. Especially important is the preservation of the integrity and authenticity of digital records to maintain the conclusiveness of the documents supporting legal claims of the issuer or third parties and the proof of their correctness in electronic legal and business transactions. To achieve these aims it is required to preserve the evidence of the electronic records. Against this background organizational guidelines and technical mechanisms have been developed and standardized which enable public administrations and private enterprises to preserve the evidence and trustworthiness of their business records over a long period of time. The present contribution provides an overview of the existing and forthcoming standards in this area.