Regulations on digital signature certification services for public service

On June 25, the Government issued Decree 68/2024/ND-CP regulating digital signatures for specialized public service.

This Decree details the specialized digital signature certification service for public service; the provision, management and use of specialized digital signatures for public service, specialized digital signature certificates for public service and specialized digital signature certification services for public service.

In particular, the Decree stipulates that the specialized digital signature certification service provided by the specialized digital signature certification service provider includes: creating and distributing key pairs, issuing specialized digital signature certificates for public service, renewing specialized digital signature certificates for public service, changing the information content of specialized digital signature certificates for public service, revoking specialized digital signature certificates for public service, restoring secret key storage devices, publishing and maintaining online the database of specialized digital signature certificates for public service, checking specialized digital signature certificates for public service online, and issuing timestamps.

Validity period of digital signature certificate for public service

The Decree clearly stipulates that the digital signature certificate for specialized public service use by the Organization providing digital signature certification services for specialized public service use has a validity period of 20 years.

The new subscriber's digital signature certificate for public service has a maximum validity period of 5 years.

The digital signature certificate for official use of the subscriber is extended for a maximum of 3 years.

For digital signature certificates used for public service to issue and check passports with electronic chips, the validity period of digital signature certificates is prescribed in Article 23 of this Decree. For digital signature certificates used for public service to issue and check identity cards with electronic chips, the validity period of digital signature certificates is prescribed in Article 26 of this Decree.

Conditions for issuing new digital signature certificates for public service

Conditions for issuing new digital signature certificates for public service for individuals:Must be an individual of the agencies and organizations specified in Article 2 of this Decree and have a need for electronic transactions; have a written request from the direct management agency or organization.

Conditions for issuing new digital signature certificates for public service for agencies and organizationsMust be an agency or organization with legal status as prescribed in Article 2 of this Decree; have a decision to establish the agency or organization or confirmation from the head of the direct superior agency or organization; have a written request from the direct management agency or organization.

Conditions for issuing new digital signature certificates for public use for equipment, services, and software: Equipment, services, and software owned and managed by agencies and organizations with legal status as prescribed in Article 2 of this Decree; with a written request from the direct management agency or organization.

Conditions for renewing digital signature certificates for public service

The Decree stipulates that digital signature certificates for public service can only be renewed once and must be valid for at least 30 days.

The direct management agency or organization must have a written request to extend the digital signature certificate for public service.