An electronic seal is a data in electronic form, which is attached to or logically associated with other data in electronic form to ensure the latter’s origin and integrity, where the creator of a seal is a legal person (unlike the electronic signature that is issued by a natural person).

In this purpose, electronic seals might serve as evidence that an electronic document was issued by a legal person, ensuring certainty of the document’s origin and integrity. Nevertheless, across the European Union, when a transaction requires a qualified electronic seal from a legal person, a qualified electronic signature from the authorised representative of the legal person is equally acceptable.

When sealing a document, a pair of keys might be needed (i.e. when the seal relies on the use of public-key infrastructure), namely a ‘public key’ and a ‘private key’. The public key can be publicly shared while the private key shall be securely stored. Especially, the private key is used by the creator of the seal to seal a document while the public key is used by anyone verifying that it is actually the private key of the creator of the seal that has been used to seal the document.

A certificate for electronic seals, issued by a Certificate Authority (CA), is an electronic attestation that links electronic seal validation data to a legal person and confirms the name of that person. This way, the certificate, usually linked to the sealed document, can be used to verify the identity of the creator of the seal and whether the document has been sealed using the corresponding private key.

Like an electronic signature, an electronic seal shall not be denied legal effect and admissibility as evidence in legal proceedings solely on the grounds that it is in an electronic form or that it does not meet the requirements for qualified electronic seals.

While different levels of electronic seals may be appropriate in different contexts, only qualified electronic seals explicitly enjoy the presumption of integrity of the data and of correctness of the origin of that data to which the qualified electronic seal is linked, all over Egypt, The Middle East and Africa.

Moreover, as a general rule, if a certain level of electronic seal (e.g. advanced seal) is required, a higher level will probably be accepted (e.g. advanced signature with a qualified seal, qualified electronic seal).

Nevertheless, when a transaction requires a qualified electronic seal from a legal person, a qualified electronic signature from the authorised representative of the legal person is equally acceptable.,