Timestamping service | SwissSign
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Timestamping Service

With the SwissSign Timestamping Service, companies can ensure the legal validity and conformity of their electronic documents through the use of timestamps.

What are digital timestamps used for?

Timestamps confirm the existence of electronic data and documents at a specific point in time. As an officially recognised provider of certification services, SwissSign fulfils the requirements of a so-called "timestamp authority" stipulated in the Swiss Federal Act on Electronic Signatures (ESigA) and is therefore also authorised to issue "qualified timestamps".

Advantages of timestamps

  • Timestamps lose their validity once a document has been modified after a stamp was set. This ensures the "integrity" of an electronic document.
  • When a timestamp is obtained for a document, it remains in the customer’s secure environment; only a unique identifier ("hash value") is sent to the service.

Where timestamps are used

  • Qualified electronic signature (QES)

    A QES is the equivalent of a handwritten signature – according to Swiss law, however, only if it also has a qualified timestamp.
    This ensures that the signature was provided at a time when the related qualified certificate was valid.

  • Records management and digital archiving

    Timestamps are used as part of the solutions for records management to show that no changes have been made to documents in the archive.
    Swiss law (the Swiss Business Records Ordinance, AccO) also refers explicitly to timestamps in this context.

  • Ensuring evidentiary value

    Timestamps are used to confirm the existence of documents at a specific point in time. This is relevant for the observance of deadlines, the creation of intellectual property and many other applications.

Get in touch

Would you like to learn more about the timestamping service or request a quote without obligation?

Don’t hesitate to contact us

What software do I need to communicate with the timestamping service?

As SwissSign uses the internet standard RFC3161, you can use any standard application which also uses this standard. All you need to do is enter the timestamp address “http://tsa.swisssign.net” in the timestamp application in order to correctly address the timestamp. As a client application, for example, you can use the freeware Adobe Acrobat Reader. This is easy to configure. The timestamps are also displayed as valid there, because SwissSign appears in the "Adobe-Approved Trust List" (AATL).

Information about the timestamping policy

All applicable policies for public SwissSign certificates are available on the "Support \Repository" page. The specific policies for this certificate type are listed on the corresponding subpage.