Incorrect terminology used in "BGEID" draft

[enricomiletto]

Hello everyone, I was reading the different translation of the draft for the new E-ID law (https://www.bj.admin.ch/bj/de/home/aktuell/mm.msg-id-89515.html, no English version) and I think the italian translation is not correct. The "elektronischen Nachweisen", which (if I understand correctly how this stuff works) refers to the verifiable credentials and which are described in sections 3,4 and 5 of the draft, are translated to "mezzi di autenticazione elettronici", which means "means of electronic authentication" (imo not a good description for VCs).

I understand that in theory the term “authentication” can also refer to “the process of verifying the authenticity of something”, like a certificate for example, but in the context of computer security and digital identities I’ve always seen it used to describe user authentication, which is not the goal of VCs (in the general case).

I think that the most intuitive and straightforward naming would be to call VCs “certificati elettronici” (lit. electronic certificates), but I see how it could lead to confusion with the concept of digital certificates, which ofc have a very well defined meaning in computer security. So maybe a literal translation from either the German version, “prove elettroniche” or the French version “moyens de preuve électroniques” —> “mezzi di prova elettronici” would be a good solution.

These are just my two cents. I have no knowledge about how to correctly write laws and maybe someone already has though a lot about this and realized that “mezzi di autenticazione elettronici” is the best way to name VCs in this legal context.

What do you think?

Enrico

[enricomiletto]

Sorry, only later realized a discussion is more appropriate according to README.

Created discussion #34.