A mobile signature is a digital signature generated either on a mobile phone or on a SIM card on a mobile phone. Origins of the term mSign The term first appeared in articles introducing mSign (short for Mobile Electronic Signature Consortium). It was founded in 1999 and comprised 35 member companies. In October 2000, the consortium published an XML-interface defining a protocol allowing service providers to obtain a mobile (digital) signature from a mobile phone subscriber. In 2001, mSign gained industry-wide coverage when it came apparent that Brokat (one of the founding companies) also obtained a process patent in Germany for using the mobile phone to generate digital signatures. ETSI-MSS standardization The term was then used by Paul Gibson (G&D) and Romary Dupuis (France Telecom) in their standardisation work at the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) and published in ETSI Technical Report TR 102 203. The ETSI-MSS specifications define a SOAP interface and mobile signature roaming for systems implementing mobile signature services. ETSI TS 102 204, and ETSI TS 102 207. Today The mobile signature can have the legal equivalent of your own wet signature, hence the term "Mobile Ink", commercial term coined by Swiss Sicap. Other terms include "Mobile ID", "Mobile Certificate" by a circle of trust of 3 Finnish mobile network operators implementing a roaming mobile signature framework Mobiilivarmenne, etc. According to the EU directives for electronic signatures the mobile signature can have the same level of protection as the handwritten signature if all components in the signature creation chain are appropriately certified. The governing standard for the mobile signature creation devices and equivalent of a handwritten signature is described in the Commission Decision 2003/511/EC of 14 July 2003 on the publication of reference numbers of generally recognised standards for electronic signature products in accordance with the Electronic Signatures Directive. If the signature solution is Common Criteria evaluated by an independent party and given the EAL4+ designation, the solution can produce what the EU directive and consequent clarifications are calling a qualified electronic signature. The current standard dates back to the year 2002/2003 and is in the process being renewed and published by the end of 2012. Most, if not all, mobile signature implementations to date generate what the EU Directive is calling advanced electronic signature. The most successful mobile signature solutions can be found in Turkey, Lithuania, Estonia and Finland with millions of users. Technically the mobile