Kazakhstan Amends Digital Technology Regulations

On July 5, 2020, a law introducing amendments to Kazakh digital technology regulations entered into force, amending 35 legislative acts, including the Law on Informatization, which underwent the most significant changes, related to the use of digital innovations in the field of public services and in various sectors of the economy.

The amended Law on Informatization requires all websites registered under the .KZ and .ҚАЗ country-code top-level domain (ccTLD) to obtain a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate, which provides website authentication and enables an encrypted connection. SSL certificates confirm that the website host has demonstrated ownership over the domain to the certificate authority at the time of certificate issuance. SSL certificates may be issued by any web hosting provider either for free or for a fee. Using SSL certificates for .KZ and .ҚАЗ domain names was previously voluntary.

Additionally, according to the amended law, websites with domain names registered under the .KZ and .ҚАЗ ccTLD must be hosted on hardware and software systems located on the territory of Kazakhstan.

The amended Law on Informatization now also includes definitions for numerous new terms, including “blockchain”, “distributed data platform”, “data analytics”, “intelligent robot”, “space of the Kazakhstan segment of the Internet“, “digital asset”, “digital documents service”, “digital mining”, “digital token” and “electronics industry”.

There are 13 accredited domain name registrars in Kazakhstan authorized to register .KZ and .ҚАЗ domain names and provide web hosting services. There are approximately 140,000 domain names currently registered under the .KZ and .ҚАЗ ccTLD.

Prepared by: Dayana Auezova

For more information, please contact dayana.auezova@petosevic.com.

Sources: Kazakh President’s official website, Kazinform news website