Bratislava, May 17 - Slovakian Parliament approved an amendment to the Electronic Signature Act, that states electronic signatures in Slovakia to be used more widely as of next year. Apart from tax and customs documents, the use of electronic signatures in Slovakia will be legitimate in business registers, the real-estate registry, the insurance sector, the issuing of passports and in other fields.

The amendment is a reaction to the rapid development of information technologies, while maintaining two levels of electronic signature - regular and guaranteed. The guaranteed version, in contrast to the regular, is viewed as having equal value as a hand-written signature. Both types are based on the principle of so-called asymmetrical coding.

The amendment was proposed by the National Security Office (NBU), and includes regulations regarding the format, copying and issuing of electronic signatures and their use in administration and business. It also specifies in detail the technical requirements for the issuing of electronic signatures.

Additional costs linked to tasks related to electronic signatures should reach Sk10.8 million (€340,000) by 2010.

The legislation, after it is signed by President Ivan Gasparovic, is due to come into effect as of January 1, 2009.

(Slovakia Today, TASR; illustration photo Slovakia Today/Erkin Sahin)