Definition of Data

Data is not defined

Main Focus of Document

This is an Act to facilitate the use of electronic transactions and for others matters connected thereto

Target Beneficiaries or Sector

Government, citizens, businesses.

Key Elements

Key elements of the Act include:
6. Legal recognition of electronic records – Information shall not be denied legal effect, validity or enforceability on the ground that:
(a) it is in the form of an electronic record; or
(b) it is not contained in the electronic record purporting to give rise to such legal effect, but is merely referred to in that electronic record.

7. Requirement to be in writing – A legal requirement for information to be in writing is satisfied by an electronic record if the information contained therein is accessible so as to be usable for subsequent reference. 
8. Requirement for signature or seal
(1) A legal requirement for a signature is satisfied by an electronic signature if:
(a) the electronic signature adequately identifies the signatory;
(b) the electronic signature adequately indicates –
(i) the signatory’s approval of the information to which the signature relates; or
(ii) in the case of the witnessing of a signature or a seal, that the signature or seal has been witnessed;
(c) the electronic signature is as reliable as is appropriate given the purpose for which, and the circumstances in which, the signature is required; and
(d) the recipient of the information to which the signature relates consents to receiving the electronic signature and the electronic signature of each witness, if any.
(2) For the purposes of this section, it is presumed that an electronic signature is as reliable as is appropriate if –
(a) the means of creating the electronic signature is linked to the signatory and to no other person;
(b) the means of creating the electronic signature was under the control of the signatory and no other person;
(c) no alteration to the electronic signature made after the time of signing is detectable; and
(d) where the purpose of the legal requirement for a signature is to provide assurance as to the integrity of the information to which it relates, no alteration made to that information after the time of signing is detectable.
(3) Subsection (2) does not prevent any person from proving on other grounds or by other means that an electronic signature –
(a) is as reliable as is appropriate; or
(b) is not as reliable as is appropriate.
(4) A legal requirement for a seal is satisfied by an electronic seal.

9. Requirement to be in original form
(1) A legal requirement for information to be presented or retained in its original form is satisfied by an electronic record if:
(a) there exists a reliable assurance as to the integrity of the information from the time when it was first generated in its final form, as an electronic record or otherwise; and
(b) where it is required that information be presented, that information is capable of being displayed to the person to whom it is to be presented.
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1) (a),
(a) the criteria for assessing integrity shall be whether the information has remained complete and unaltered, apart from the addition of any endorsement and any change which arises in the normal course of communication, storage and display; and
(b) the standard of reliability required shall be assessed in light of the purpose for which the information was generated and in light of all the relevant circumstances.

11. Admissibility and evidential weight of electronic records
(1) An electronic record shall not be denied admissibility:
(a) on the sole ground that is an electronic record; or
(b) if it is the best evidence that the person adducing it could reasonably be expected to obtain, on the grounds that is not in its original form.
(2) Information in the form of an electronic record shall be given due evidential weight, and for this purpose, regard shall be had to:
(a) the reliability of the manner in which the electronic record was generated, stored or communicated;
(b) the reliability of the manner in which the integrity of the information was maintained;
(c) the manner in which its originator was identified; and
(d) any other relevant factor.

12. Formation and validity of contracts
(1) Unless otherwise agreed by the parties, an offer or the acceptance of an offer may, in relation to the formation of a contract, be expressed by means of an electronic record.
(2) Where an electronic record is used in the formation of a contract, the contract shall not be denied legal effect, validity or enforceability on the sole ground that an electronic record was used for that purpose.
(3) Where an electronic record is used in the formation of contract, the law that governs the contract shall, unless otherwise agreed by the parties, be the law of Samoa.

13. Recognition by parties of electronic records – As between the originator and the addressee of an electronic record, a declaration of intention or other statement shall not be denied legal effect, validity or enforceability on the sole ground that it is in the form of an electronic record. 

14. Attribution of electronic records
(1) An electronic record is that of the originator’s if it was sent by the originator himself.
(2) As between the originator and the addressee, an electronic record is deemed to be that of the originator’s if it was sent:
(a) by a person who had the authority to act on behalf of the originator in respect of that electronic record; or (b) by an information system programmed by, or on behalf of, the originator to operate automatically.
(3) As between the originator and the addressee, an addressee is entitled to regard an electronic record as being that of the originator’s, and to act on that assumption, if:
(a) in order to ascertain whether the electronic record was that of the originator’s, the addressee properly applied a procedure previously agreed to by the originator for that purpose; or
(b) the electronic record as received by the addressee resulted from the actions of a person whose relationship with the originator or with any agent of the originator enabled that person to gain authorised access to a method used by the originator to identify electronic records as that person’s own.

Policy/Regulation Mirrors

n/a