QWACs in the context of the trust spaces of the browsers and eIDAS 2.0

Zusammenfassung

As part of the revision of the EU eIDAS Regulation (eIDAS 2.0), an intensive discussion began on the future role and design of the qualified certificate for website authentication (QWAC), which steadily increased in intensity. For those in favour of QWACs, it is an important instrument for strengthening the European digital single market and consumer protection. For opponents of QWACs, it is a potential instrument for surveillance of internet traffic. The decisive factor for the actual use of QWACs is governance. This article takes a comparative look at the current governance of QWACs as TLS certificates and the future governance of QWACs under eIDAS 2.0. Furthermore, an alternative proposal is made as to how website content could be authenticated with QWACs.