Digital Signature Certificates provide sanctities to the identity of the signer who holds the certificate.
Can I Share My DSC with Someone Else?
DSC stands for Digital Signature Certificates. It means it is an electronic format for physical certificates. DSCs are adopted by various agencies of government and are regarded as a statutory requirement in different applications. As per the IT Act, 2000, organizations and other individuals can make online transactions secure and backed by legal validity. These are mainly preferred in businesses nowadays. Specified agencies are authorised by the CCA which is a Controller of Certifying Ability in order to provide certificates to the applicants.
What Does It Contain?
It contains a wide variety of information which includes the following the pin code, the user name, the date on which the certificate was issued, country name, Email address and the name of the certifying authority.
What is the importance of DSC?
It is compulsory for fulfilling statutory compliances. The individuals and the other entities whose accounts need to be audited must necessarily file an income tax return With the help of a digital signature.
Moreover, the Corporate affairs ministry has made it compulsory for all the companies to use a digital signature in filing all reports, forms and applications. Under the GST regime, the company or an organization can only be registered through the verification of the GST application only with the use of a digital signature. Hence the DSC is mandatorily needed in order to file applications, make changes and other related activities.
What are the documents required while submitting a DSC application?
- Photo ID proof (Aadhar card, Pan card etc).
- Address proof.
- Submission of the duly filled application by the applicant.
What are the three types or classes of Digital Signature Certificate?
- Class 1 certificate- This kind of certificate is issued to private or individual subscribers. These are used just in case to verify the username and the email address details that lie within the certifying authority’s database.
- Class 2 certificate- These are mainly issued to the signatory or the director authorities of the companies just in case for e-filing with the ROC which is the Registrar of Companies. These documents were made mandatory for the individuals for the purpose of signing the documents manually and while filing returns with the Registrar of Companies. But from 1st January 2021 onwards CCA has issued the discontinuation of Class 2 certificates and the class 3 certificates will be issued in that place from now on.
- Class 3 certificates– These sorts of certificates can be used anywhere in India. These are mainly used for online participation, online tenders or bidding auctions. The vendors who are willing to participate in the online tenders must necessarily obtain a digital signature certificate.
Can I share my digital signature certificate with someone else?
Digital signatures are effortlessly portable and can not be imitated with the aid of using a person. The potential to make certain that the authentic signed message arrived so that the sender can not so easily disclaim it later.
What are the key benefits of a Digital Signature Certificate?
- Time and cost are reduced- Instead of signing the physical documents manually, these digital certificates can be very helpful nowadays. It’s quicker to submit the documents in a PDF manner via email or through other channels instead of visiting the office and submitting the hard copy certificates. Hence an individual does not need to be present physically.
- Authentication- While conducting online businesses it will be helpful for an individual in authenticating the personal information details.
- Document authenticity- It kind of gives self-confidence to the receiver that the assured documents are safely signed and the information is reliable enough. The Receiver can surely take necessary actions without vetting worried about the documents being forged.
- Data integrity- Since the certificates are digitally signed so the alterations after signing online cannot be done which keeps the documents secure and safe. These are often asked to crosscheck or verify the details by the government agencies so that are mentioned correctly.
Can Someone Else Use My Digital Signature?
- Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) is a unique digital identity of an individual or organization.
- Sharing your DSC with someone else is not recommended as it can compromise the security of your online transactions.
- DSC is issued to individuals for personal or business use, and it is not transferable to anyone else.
- Only the authorized signatory or the owner of the DSC can use it for online transactions or filings.
- Sharing your DSC with someone else can lead to unauthorized access to your online accounts and confidential information.
- If you suspect that your DSC has been compromised or misused, you should immediately contact the issuing authority to revoke it.
- Reusing a DSC that has been shared with someone else can lead to legal and financial consequences.
- It is important to protect your DSC and ensure that it is not used by anyone else without your permission.
- If you need to authorize someone else to act on your behalf, you can issue a Power of Attorney (POA) instead of sharing your DSC.
- In summary, it is not advisable to share your DSC with someone else, and you should take all necessary measures to protect it from unauthorized access and misuse.
What is the main difference between a digital signature and a digital certificate?
- A digital certificate will bind a digital signature to an entity. On the other hand, a digital signature keeps the data or the information collected secure and safe from the moment it was issued.
- Therefore the digital certificate verifies the trustworthiness of a sender whereas, The digital signature verifies the trustworthiness of the message that is being sent.
- A digital signature helps to authenticate the message origination while the digital certificate authenticates the cryptographic key that is itself built into the certificate.
- Digital signatures are widely used to avoid the documents being forged and digital certificates are mainly used for online transactions In businesses for the sender’s trustworthiness.
- Digital Certificates are made in X. 509 format while digital signatures are created with the help of SHA-1 and SHA-2 negotiations.
Conclusion
Thus, we would like to conclude by saying that Digital signatures can be useful for various purposes. The record is real and is derived from a demonstrated source. The record has now no longer been manipulated because it turned into a digitally signed document. Its identification has been demonstrated through a relied organization (the CA).
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