A signature has been an integral part of documents for centuries and serves to prove the identity of the person signing the document. The proof of any document depends on the existence of a signature. This applies regardless of whether it is in paper or electronic format. You cannot avoid it even when archiving electronically. You just use it in a different form - electronic. However, an electronic signature is not a scanned image, as laypeople often believe.
A trusted document allows you to prove its origin and integrity over time ( more on the topic here ). Only a signed document has judicial probative value in the event of a dispute or is acceptable in official proceedings when exercised by a public authority. Origin, integrity and legibility are properties of documents that are also claimed by the tax administrator when checking your accounting in accordance with the VAT Act. A signature is also required by the Accounting Act for accounting records, which become accounting documents if they have signature records. And just like the archiving of paper documents, requirements are defined for documents stored in an electronic archive. And this is exactly what an electronic signature helps us with in the case of digital documents.
An electronic signature ensures authenticity of origin
A document is any recorded information (Act No. 499/2004, §2, paragraph e) and therefore has a more general form than a written document, as it assumes more forms than just written. It can be, for example, audio or video.
A written legal act is defined (according to the Civil Code) as having to be signed by the person acting in person. In the case of an electronic form, only with a guaranteed electronic signature. What does this mean? While we understand it so well with paper that no law needs to explain it to us anymore, the situation is different with an electronic document.
The foundations for the authenticity of an electronic document are laid by a special Act No. 227/2000 Coll., on electronic signature ( since July 2016, it has been governed by eIDAS ). If the document is accompanied by a recognized electronic signature by its originator, the state or other recipient can accurately identify who issued the document. This guarantees the authenticity of the document and its integrity .
You can obtain an electronic signature from 3 organizations
An electronic signature is data in data form that replaces a handwritten signature on a computer. It is attached to or logically linked to a data message. It serves to uniquely verify the identity of the person signing the data message. By adding an electronic signature to a document, you therefore ensure the authenticity of its origin .
How? The credibility of a valid electronic signature is ensured using the principle of trust transfer from a trusted third party . Verification works by combining the data of the public part of the certificate (the public key that you release to the world) and the private part (which you keep strictly in your computer system) through certification authorities.
A certificate is a data message issued by a certification service provider and linking data for verifying electronic signatures with the signatory (qualified certificate). This allows for verification of their identity. In the case of an electronic signature, it is like verifying a handwritten signature on a document.
In the Czech Republic, you can obtain an electronic signature exclusively from 3 qualified certification authorities – Czech Post, First Certification Authority and eIdentity. If you do not want to travel to any of the contact points of the above authorities, you can use the so-called mobile registration authority. It will come to you and arrange and set up everything you need in the comfort of your office. One of them is, for example, the company operating the website elektronickypodpis.cz . The validity of an electronic signature is usually 1 year. Certificates with a validity of 3 years are also being issued.
You can read about the principles on which an electronic signature works and what its variants are in the next part of the series " Learn about trusted archiving ".
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