The law - passed 54 in favor and no votes against, nor any abstentions - requires that every online document prepared by a public authority be signed with a digital signature, or an encoded label, ensuring the document's authenticity and legality.
The law will go into effect on Jan. 3, 2001, giving state and local governments time to iron out the logistics of implementing such an act.
A digital signature is a combination of data generated by the signatory from the document and a personal key. It requires specific computer software and a certificate from a digital signature provider, such as a state agency or telecommunications company, that issues two keys to each individual, one public and one private.
"When you look at the signature, it is not the same as something handwritten that uses letters, for example. It is composed of numbers, dots and stars," said Kaidi Oone, government adviser for the department of state information systems.
Oone explained the concept of a digital signature by comparing it with a bank card PIN code. The number on the face of a bank card is the public number, given by the bank and necessary for identifying the holder of the card. The PIN code is the private number, issued confidentially to provide access to account information and specific to each bank card.
"The aim of the private key is to generate a signature specific to the sender. When you type your PIN code into the bank machine, for example, the bank generates a digital signature. It is the same technology," Oone said. "The aim of the public key is to show the people to whom you send documents that it was you who wrote and sent them and they haven't been changed."
The law is expected to cost the state millions of kroons in initial investments, but officials say once the infrastructure is in place - public authorities are assigned signatures and documents are put online - the state should save money by reducing the amount of hard copy information used and the amount of time it takes to read and approve documents.
"Right now we are in the beginning stages of getting ready for this law," said Vaino Sarnet, head of the public administration bureau in the state chancellery. "Implementation is a major undertaking and the strategy is to get help from the private sector."
Sarnet is in charge of designing an administrative reform program that will help the Estonian state use its financial and human resources more efficiently. He said the Digital Signature Act is necessary to make local governments more connected to each other and to the national government. Tighter connections should help the country run more effectively, especially with regard to adopting and implementing regional legislation and allocating funds from the state budget.
"Coordinating information technologies between the central government and the local governments is a hot item right now and is always discussed in cabinet meetings," he said. "This law will allow transfers online to be legal and valid."
In addition to linking state and local governments, the Digital Signature Act will connect those governments better with the people they serve.
Estonia is one of a handful of European countries lacking a freedom of information law. Critics, such as citizens' groups and media professionals, have urged Parliament to pass a law guaranteeing the right to access documents generated by the state and local authorities. They argue, and with support from various international organizations, that such a law provides more transparency in government and more security against corruption.
Although a freedom of information law has been drawn up by the Estonian Newspaper Association and handed over to the Interior Ministry, government, and thus Parliament, has not debated such a bill. One argument is that the Estonian constitution already grants people access to public documents in article 24. Another is that Estonia doesn't have the infrastructure in place to implement such a law, such as proper training of civil service agents to distribute the requested materials.
The Digital Signature Act hopes to solve the latter issue by putting government information and official documents directly onto the Web, making access to the public easier.
"The freedom of information law is certainly connected with this Digital Signature Law. Without this electronic program it is difficult to implement a freedom of information law," Sarnet said.
The newspaper association's draft of a public access law relies on the use of the Internet in its implementation by requiring all government agencies to have Web pages that are updated regularly and provide a window into the departments' events. The draft also suggests that government information be listed on an electronic register so documents can be easily found.
"It is much easier to get information through the Internet," Oone said. "This law should help make more things accessible to the public and faster, in fact."
Applying a digital signature to each document allows the government to send information through cyberspace without worrying about its legality. Documents at the business registry, for example, can be filed online, saving the businessperson a trip to the office. If the non-government party does not have a digital signature this law only applies to public authorities the document can be printed out, signed by hand and mailed by post.
Electronic documents are also branded with a time stamp that further secures the document from tampering by a third-party.
Digital signatures are used in several other European countries such as France, Germany, Italy, Austria and the Netherlands.
"This is a very important law that we have been waiting on Parliament to pass," said Priit Poiklik, government spokesman. "It is part of the ruling coalition's goal of public reforms to make more documents digital and accessible on the Internet."
Without an access to information law, however, there is still ambiguity as to what documents will be available to view by the public, even if they are uploaded onto the Internet.
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