The present document specifies PAdES digital signatures. PAdES signatures build on PDF signatures specified in ISO 32000-1 with an alternative signature encoding to support digital signature formats equivalent to the signature format CAdES as specified in ETSI EN 319 122-1, by incorporation of signed and unsigned attributes, which fulfil certain common requirements (such as the long term validity of digital signatures) in a number of use cases.
The present document specifies formats for PAdES baseline signatures, which provide the basic features necessary for a wide range of business and governmental use cases for electronic procedures and communications to be applicable to a wide range of communities when there is a clear need for interoperability of digital signatures used in electronic documents.
The present document defines four levels of PAdES baseline signatures addressing incremental requirements to maintain the validity of the signatures over the long term, in a way that a certain level always addresses all the requirements addressed at levels that are below it. Each level requires the presence of certain PAdES attributes, suitably profiled for reducing the optionality as much as possible.
Procedures for creation, augmentation, and validation of PAdES digital signatures are out of scope and specified in ETSI EN 319 102-1. Guidance on creation, augmentation and validation of PAdES digital signatures including the usage of the different attributes defined in the present document is provided in ETSI TR 119 100. The present document aims at supporting electronic signatures in different regulatory frameworks.
NOTE: Specifically but not exclusively, PAdES digital signatures specified in the present document aim at supporting electronic signatures, advanced electronic signatures, qualified electronic signatures, electronic seals, advanced electronic seals, and qualified electronic seals as per Regulation (EU) No 910/2014.
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