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The European Regulation commonly known as eIDAS, adopted in 2014, introduced the Qualified Trust Service Provider qualification, with a view to identifying requirements and obligations to ensure a high level of security and consequently increase the trust of SMEs and consumers in the internal market.
Nowadays, electronic identification and electronic signatures are internationally recognised instruments to ensure good governance of companies and public institutions, and are an essential requirement for a country's competitiveness.
According to Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 2014 on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions (eIDAS Regulation), a Qualified Trust Service Provider is a natural or legal person that provides one or more qualified trust services and has been granted such qualification by the supervisory body.
Illustration 1: PCSC label awarded by the EU.
But what is a Qualified Trust Service?
They are electronic services that provide electronic transactions with legal security, guaranteeing compliance with the principles of identity, integrity and non-repudiation. In order to be considered Qualified, in addition to complying with the applicable requirements of the eIDAS Regulation, they must have been audited by an accredited Conformity Assessment Body (CAB) and recognised by the corresponding supervisory body.
These services are created and evolve around electronic signature technology and qualified electronic certificates and consist, among others, of the creation, verification and validation of electronic signatures and electronic seals. Issuance of Qualified Electronic Certificates, Qualified Electronic Seals, Qualified Electronic Time Stamps, Certified Electronic Delivery Services and other services such as the preservation of electronic signatures and seals.
Don't be fooled:
It is important for customers and for the market in general to be able to identify and verify the accreditation of Qualified Providers and their services. To this end, the European Commission provides a padlock-shaped badge, which will be linked to the TSL (Trusted-Services Status List), trust lists where we can find details of each and every one of the accredited Qualified Providers, and what qualified trust services they provide.
Denominations such as "Trusted Third Party" - a figure revoked by Law 6/2020 -; biometric signature; electronic signature without certificate; or packages containing more or less evidence depending on the amount to be paid, should be reasons for customers to be alerted and put on their guard.
Special attention should be paid to entities that, taking advantage of their lack of knowledge of the market, introduce their own semantics and play with the figures defined by the eIDAS. Contracting this type of services or being advised by entities that are not part of the TSL, can entail significant risks and liabilities for the client entities, being in the vast majority of cases, systematic risks that can put the corporation at serious risk making it fully vulnerable.
ANF AC is the only Qualified Provider in Europe to have 100% of the Qualified Trust Services accredited.
List of all Accredited Qualified Services:
- Qualified certificate for electronic signature
- Qualified certificate for electronic seal
- Qualified certificate for website authentication
- Qualified validation service for qualified electronic signature
- Qualified preservation service for qualified electronic signature
- Qualified validation service for qualified electronic seal
- Qualified preservation service for qualified electronic seal
- Qualified time stamp
- Qualified electronic registrered delivery service
ANF AC, as a Qualified Trust Services Provider, has the vision to facilitate the internalization of these tools by the ordinary citizen and to accompany and guide companies, whether large, medium or small in the adoption and integration of Qualified Trust Services, essential to compete in the European Union and key to improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the entity.