1. (a) General. The Guidelines for the Management of Electronic Transactions and Signed Records, which are available at http://www.dir.state.tx.us/standards/UETA_Guideline.htm were adopted by the department based on the work and recommendations of the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act Task Force. The Uniform Electronic Transactions Act Task Force was jointly created by the department and the Texas State Library and Archives Commission to advise the agencies on the rules each might adopt pursuant to Texas Business and Commerce Code §43.017.
2. (b) Applicability. The Guidelines for the Management of Electronic Transactions and Signed Records are applicable to state agencies that send and accept electronic records and electronic signatures to and from other persons and to state agencies that otherwise create, generate, communicate, store, process, use, and rely upon electronic records and electronic signatures.
3. (c) Contents. The Guidelines for the Management of Electronic Transactions and Signed Records describe electronic records, electronic signatures and trustworthy records; describe common types of risks that pertain to electronic transactions and signed records, describe the need for, and how to conduct risk assessments, as well as how to conduct a cost/benefit analysis to determine if the electronic transaction is practical. The Guidelines also discuss risk mitigation and security relating to electronic records and signatures; and records management issues, including life cycle vs. system development life cycle, preservation of electronically signed records, and the role of records managers and auditors in the implementation of a process to accept electronically signed documents. The Guidelines include appendices that discuss current electronic signature technologies, contain a checklist for evaluating electronic signatures, discuss the technical considerations of various electronic signature alternatives and briefly comment on the International Organization for Standardization nonrepudiation model.

Source Note:The provisions of this §203.2 adopted to be effective May 21, 2003, 28 TexReg 3944.