19.34.240 - Private key -- Control -- Public disclosure exemption.

Private key — Control — Public disclosure exemption.

(1) By accepting a certificate issued by a licensed certification authority, the subscriber identified in the certificate assumes a duty to exercise reasonable care to retain control of the private key and prevent its disclosure to a person not authorized to create the subscriber's digital signature. The subscriber is released from this duty if the certificate expires or is revoked.

     (2) A private key is the personal property of the subscriber who rightfully holds it.

     (3) A private key in the possession of a state agency or local agency, as those terms are defined by *RCW 42.17.020, is exempt from public inspection and copying under chapter 42.56 RCW.

[2005 c 274 § 235; 1997 c 27 § 11; 1996 c 250 § 305.]

Notes: *Reviser's note: RCW 42.17.020 was recodified as RCW 42.17A.005 pursuant to 2010 c 204 § 1102, effective January 1, 2012.

Part headings not law -- Effective date -- 2005 c 274: See RCW 42.56.901 and 42.56.902.

Effective date -- Severability -- 1997 c 27: See notes following RCW 19.34.030.