Access Certificates for Electronic Services (ACES) - Enabling government to citizen interaction via the Internet

摘要

The Government Paperwork Elimination Act mandates the ability for Federalagencies to accept electronically submitted forms from the public, many of whichrequire a signature. This, along with the drive to provide information andservices via electronic media (the Internet) while still protecting the rights andprivacy of individuals and the integrity of the information, requires agencies toconsider means of positively identifying their constituents for the purpose ofeffecting these communications. The Access Certificates for Electronic Services(ACES) program utilizes industry partners providing COTS solutions designed tofacilitate secure on-line access to Government information and services by thePublic through the use of a public key infrastructure (PKI). ACES Certificatesutilize digital signature technology to provide Authentication, Access Control,Data Integrity, and Technical Non-repudiation of Information. The ACES vision isthat a single member of the public or a business representative would have onedigital signature certificate with which he or she could do business with a varietyof Federal agencies, including the electronic signing of forms prior to submission.