What kind of data does a digital certificate typically contain?

A digital certificate typically contains the identity of the certificate holder along with their public key. The identity may include details such as the name of the individual or organization, email address, and other identifying information that ensures the certificate can be linked to a specific entity. The public key is essential for enabling secure communications, as it allows others to encrypt messages or verify signatures made by the holder.

This dual nature—providing both identity information and the corresponding public key—ensures that users and systems can establish secure connections and authenticate each other's identities effectively. The inclusion of just the public key, as suggested in one of the other choices, would lack the necessary context to validate the owner. The private key, which is crucial for decrypting messages or signing documents, is never included in the digital certificate for security purposes. Thus, omitting the crucial identity aspect or including sensitive data like the private key does not align with how digital certificates are structured or intended to be used.