Latvian govt to talk with Latvijas Pasts and Lattelkom about electronic signature project

Latvian government ordered the secretariat of E-Affairs Minister Janis Reirs on Tuesday to launch negotiations with the state-owned Latvijas Pasts postal company and Lattelekom telecommunications company about the development of the electronic signature services.

The government wants to complete the talks in three months time and then decide which company to entrust with implementing the electronic signature project.

Ina Gudele, head of the e-affairs minister’s secretariat, said in the government meeting that proposals of both Latvijas Pasts and Lattelekom have their advantages and disadvantages.

Gudele also noted that the main problem, that has hindered the implementation of the project until now, is the fact that the carrier of the signature has not been chosen, e.i., it has not been decided where to encode the signature. She reminded about an earlier plan to distribute electronic signatures together with ID cards, however this plan did not materialize as the government decided last year to put off the issuing of ID cards.

Latvia’s electronic documents law, which took effect already in January 2003, obliges state and municipal institutions to accept electronic documents from private individuals and legal entities.

However, under the law, an electronic document acquires legal force when it is connected to a safe electronic signature available only to the signatory, ensuring identification of the signatory and which is certified by a qualified certificate.

The main obstacle to the law has been the lack of any certification institution for issuing electronic signatures.