Certification Practice Statement
title: "Certification Practice Statement" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["key-management", "public-key-cryptography"] topic_path: "technology/cryptography" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Certification_Practice_Statement" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
A Certification Practice Statement (CPS) is a document from a certificate authority or a member of a web of trust which describes their practice for issuing and managing public key certificates.
Some elements of a CPS include documenting practices of:
- issuance
- publication
- archiving
- revocation
- renewal
By detailing the practice of issuance, revocation and renewal, a CPS aids entities in judging the relative reliability of a given certificate authority.
Certificate authorities
Main article: Certificate authority
In a certificate authority, the CPS should derive from the organization's certificate policy and may be referenced in issued certificates.
Web of trust
Main article: Web of trust
Because individuals act as certifiers in a web of trust, individual CPS documents are sometimes used. For example, in a PGP WoT, the CPS might state that the certifying entity checked two forms of legal government ID before signing the person's public key.
Digital signatures
Main article: Digital signature
When verifying digital signatures, it's necessary to review the CPS so as to determine the meaning of the issuance of the certificate by the certifying entity.
References
References
- American Bar Association Digital Signature Guidelines 1996, {{ISBN. 1-57073-250-7 (section 1.8.1)
- "Creating Certificate Policies and Certificate Practice Statements".
- American Bar Association Digital Signature Guidelines 1996, {{ISBN. 1-57073-250-7
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