E-signaturer är allmänt erkända som juridiskt bindande i världen. Läs mer om e-signaturens legalitet i olika länder i den här vägledningen.
As a member state of the European Union, Austria follows eIDAS, the legal framework that recognizes eSignatures as legally valid in the EU.
eIDAS applied to Austria in 2016 and states that “An electronic signature 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 signatures.” Following the eIDAS regulation, eSignatures are now legally valid in all EU member states.
Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the internal market (the “eIDAS Regulation”)
Yes.
The eIDAS regulation defines three types of eSignature (SES, AES, QES) and is a new regulation on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the European Single Market. It establishes a legal framework for people, companies (in particular small to mid-size enterprises) and public administrations to safely access services and execute transactions digitally across all the EU member states.
eIDAS entered into force on 17 September 2014 and applied from 1 July 2016. It repealed and replaced the Electronic Signatures Directive 1999/93/EC, a European Union directive on the use of eSignatures in electronic contracts within the EU.
En enkel elektronisk signatur (Standard Electronic Signature, SES) är förekomsten av elektronisk information som är logiskt kopplad till annan elektronisk information, (till exempel ett dokument), vilken används av den elektroniska informationens undertecknare för att signera dokumentet. Många elektroniska verktyg, inklusive lösenord, PIN-koder och skannade signaturer kan betraktas som SES.
En avancerad elektronisk signatur (Advanced Electronic Signature, AES) måste säkerställa att signaturerna på ett unikt sätt kan kopplas till och identifiera den underskrivande parten. Den måste skapas med hjälp av elektroniska signaturuppgifter som undertecknaren, med en hög grad av tillförlitlighet, kan ha under sin kontroll.
A qualified electronic signature (QES) is a stricter form of AES and the only signature type given the same legal value as handwritten signatures. It is an advanced electronic signature with a qualified digital certificate that has been created by a qualified signature creation device (QSCD). The QSCD has to be issued by a qualified EU Trust Service Provider (TSP) on the European Union Trust List (EUTL.)
The law does not exclude specific types of agreements. However, certain types of agreements such as wills, court documents, land titles, may still require written, paper communications.
