PORTUGAL Law and Practice Contributed by: Jorge Silva Martins, João Carminho and Inês Coré, CS’Associados
8. Trust Services and Digital Entities
• Data protection: ensure compliance with the GDPR, particularly regarding user data collec - tion, processing, and sharing; • Pricing and billing: transparent pricing struc - tures, billing mechanisms, and any applicable regulatory pricing controls; and • Termination and dispute resolution: define conditions for termination and include mech - anisms for resolving disputes, such as media - tion or arbitration. Negotiating Favourable Terms • Flexibility: seek terms that allow adaptation to evolving technologies or regulatory changes (eg, 5G or IoT deployment); • Risk mitigation: include robust indemnity clauses to limit liability for service outages or data breaches; and • Regulatory compliance: ensure adherence to national and EU telecom regulations to avoid penalties. Considerations for Interconnection Agreements • Regulatory compliance: agreements must comply with Portuguese Electronic Commu - nications Law interconnection regime and EU rules under the European Electronic Commu - nications Code (EECC); • Technical specifications: clearly define inter - connection points, quality standards, and interoperability requirements; • Cost sharing: establish fair cost allocation for shared infrastructure and services, consider - ing regulated pricing; • Dispute resolution: include clear procedures for resolving conflicts, as interconnection disputes are subject to ANACOM’s oversight; and • Data and security: address data traffic man - agement, cybersecurity requirements, and privacy obligations.
8.1 Trust Services and Electronic Signatures/Digital Identity Schemes In Portugal, this topic is governed by Decree- Law No 12/2021, which: • ensures the implementation within the Portu - guese legal order of the eIDAS Regulation; • regulates the validity, effectiveness and pro - bative value of electronic documents; • establishes the recognition and acceptance of electronic identification means for both natural and legal persons; and • provides guidelines for the State Electronic Certification System – Public Key Infrastruc - ture (SECS). According to this Decree-Law, and in line with the provisions of the eIDAS Regulation, affixing a qualified electronic signature to an electronic document holds the same legal weight as a handwritten signature on paper and establishes the presumption that: • the person who affixed the qualified elec - tronic signature is either its rightful holder or a representative authorised with adequate pow - ers on behalf of the relevant legal person; • the qualified electronic signature was affixed with the explicit intention of signing the elec - tronic document; and • the electronic document has remained unal - tered since the qualified electronic signature was affixed. Trusted List In accordance with the eIDAS Regulation, each member state shall establish, maintain and pub - lish trusted lists, including information related to the qualified trust service providers for which it
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