ISO/IEC 27001 certification – a guarantee of information protection at Digital Gateways and subsidiary AIS Gateways
01/08/2024
Use case – schools and universities
22/08/2024
Uses of a qualified electronic seal
Electronic processes for generating and processing documents are constantly being developed. All of this is aimed at moving the handling of formalities into the online sphere. This allows us to speed up and facilitate many tasks. At the same time, in order to ensure the quality of their activities and the security of their data, companies and public institutions are making use of the possibilities offered by trust services. One of these is the qualified electronic seal.
Basic information about a qualified electronic seal
- A qualified electronic seal is a modern equivalent of a traditional company seal.
- It contains the data of the company that uses it.
- It can only be issued to entities with legal personality by an approved trust service provider.
- Documents signed with a qualified seal, unlike an advanced seal, have legal force.
- Due to the European eIDAS regulation, which is its formal basis, all EU member states recognize documents certified in this way in the same way.
You can learn more about its characteristics from our previous article.
Uses of electronic seals in practice
Public institutions that send letters electronically provide the recipient with the assurance that the document has definitely come from the state entity in question. On the other hand, the authority, having stamped the received printout, has a guarantee that exactly this file has been received by it. All attempts at substitution, on the other hand, will be noticed.
In the case of commerce, the authenticity of invoices or orders issued is of great importance. It is possible for the correspondence of a business party to be hacked and the bank account number to which payment for a transaction is to be made to be changed. With a qualified seal in such a situation, the document can be easily verified.
Medical service providers are obliged to ensure the accuracy and security of their records. All laboratory results, patient records or prescriptions issued must be protected because of sensitive data. Merely changing the details of these files can have a real impact on the health of the clients.
Insurance and banking are sectors in which it is important to thoroughly vet the client or body with which you are entering into a business relationship. Every detail of the steps of the procedures is also important, so that each party must fulfil its obligations. Once the identity has been verified, a significant completion of the formalities required will be a qualified stamp, which will be proof in contentious situations.
Companies that use large numbers of documents often decide to transfer the contents of their files to a digital archive. When letters are scanned and uploaded into the system thanks to a qualified seal, no one can accuse them of not matching the physical original. Simply digitising documents improves the flow of information.
Irrespective of the size of the company and its areas of operation, internal affairs will be among the core tasks. Even decisions that will not directly concern the customer can be confirmed with a qualified seal. This will establish the credibility of the employer in the eyes of the employees. It will also prevent changes being made by persons not authorised to do this.
