Secure your digital document processes with the Digital and Population Data Services Agency’s new electronic seal – check the origin and integrity of your documents

The Digital and Population Data Services Agency’s electronic seal allows organisations to prove the origin and integrity of documents or other electronic materials that they send. Launched at the beginning of February, the new service supports the digitalisation of society by securing electronic document processes.

The Digital and Population Data Services Agency’s current electronic signature can be used to verify the signatory of a document in a legally binding and indisputable way. The electronic seal, on the other hand, proves the identity of the producer of a document or some other file produced by a legal person and the unchanged and indisputable nature of the document.

– The electronic seal offers great security for processing electronic documents. An electronically sealed document will include reliable information on the organisation that created the document. You can also be sure that an electronically sealed document is not falsified, says Chief Specialist Jaripekka Turtiainen from the Digital and Population Data Services Agency. 

The only Finnish electronic seal accepted in all EU and EEA countries

An approval at the highest level of the eIDAS Regulation will be applied for the Digital and Population Data Services Agency’s electronic seal certificate during 2024. That way, it will be valid in all EU and EEA countries. 

Once the digital seal offered by the Digital and Population Data Services Agency has been approved in all European countries, it will make it easier for Finnish organisations to carry out digital processes both in Finland and abroad. There are already dozens of European electronic seal services. 

– It’s great that Finland is joining the European family in securing digital services by introducing an electronic seal service, and that the service provider is no other than the Digital and Population Data Services Agency. 

The electronic seal is one way to promote digitalisation in society by securing electronic document processes   

The electronic seal can be used for many organisations’ documents that are currently secured with a traditional stamp. These documents include:

• Extracts
• Certificates
• e-prescriptions
• Agreements
• Official replies, notifications and (administrative) decisions
• Other electronic documents created and approved by a company or organisation.

The sealed content can be any kind of digital data. The electronic seal be easily added to most common file formats, such as pdf, docx, xml files or even e-prescriptions. 

The origin of a document and its electronic seal can be checked independently of the system by using the Digital and Population Data Services Agency’s checking service. 

Organisations can also integrate the electronic seal service with their own systems, and the checking can also be automated.