Escrow
Escrow: Something (e.g., a document, an encryption key) that is "delivered to a third person to be given to the grantee only upon the fulfillment of a…
Definition
Something (e.g., a document, an encryption key) that is "delivered to a third person to be given to the grantee only upon the fulfillment of a condition." (FIPS 185) (NISTIR)
Alternative Definitions
- Definition 2
The act of placing a copy of a vendor’s voting system source code in the hands of an independent agent, who is obligated to rel ease the source code to a jurisdiction upon the occurrence of stated events, such as an alle gation of tampering. The need for escrow is premised on the claim by the vendors that voting system source code contains trade secrets, which should not have to be exposed to jurisdic tions in the normal course. However, there is no guarantee that any code deposited into escrow actually conforms to the compiled code installed in voting machines, and the protection afforded by escrow is illusory. Nevertheless, many states rely on code escrows for election in tegrity: “The process by which a third party having no direct or indirect financial interest with a vendor holds, for safekeeping, the source code, including all changes or modifications and new or amended versions. A financial interest would exist if the third party, for instance, incl uded a vendor's stocks in its portfolio.” Cal. Regs. §20623. Similarly in New York. N. Y. Election Laws (consol.) §7-208. “Ballot tally software program source code(s) (or hereinafter: `source code') shall be placed in escrow in order to: (a) Protect and enhance the integrity of elections by ensuring that ballot tally software programs used in California elections have not been tampered with or otherwise altered and that elections continue to accurately reflect the will of the voters as expressed by their votes on computer-read ballots; (b) Create a record of all versions, including ch anges or modifications of the source code materials placed in escrow; (c) Create a record of all applications for access to the source code materials placed in escrow (d) Unless otherwise superseded by a contract between a vendor and an election jurisdiction, preserve the necessary source code information to permit the election jurisdiction to continue the use and maintenance of the source code in the event the vendor is unable, or otherwise fails, to provide maintenance.” Cal. Re gs. §20611. See also Wash. Admin. Code §434-335- 040(5).