Glue Software Engineering AG as the developer and fence IT AG as the operator successfully launched an adapted Notary Register (UPReg) on 27 November 2021.
The previous UPReg was based on the solution concept of SuisseID, developed in 2010, to uniquely identify notaries and link signatures to individuals. With the discontinuation of the SuisseID e-Identity service in mid-December 2021, UPReg lacked the essential mechanisms. As a result, significant changes to the UPReg concept were necessary.
The following aspects were particularly important for the client, the Federal Office of Justice:
- Despite extensive changes, continued operation within the framework of applicable law (Ordinance on the Creation of Electronic Public Documents and Electronic Certifications EöBV) is ensured
- Notaries listed in the register should be as independent as possible in choosing their certificate provider and required signature software
- Risks arising from the use of different operating systems and the migration of signature solutions to the cloud should be mitigated
- Since no e-Identity procedure is available in Switzerland after the rejection of the state E-ID on 7 March 2021, the identification of notaries has been returned to the responsibility of the competent supervisory authorities of the cantons and the federal government.
- The authentication procedure uses the WebAuthn protocol with FIDO2 devices, published by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). This protocol is supported in current browsers on all platforms.
- While in the previous UPReg notaries were tied to the Open eGov LocalSigner solution, all commercially available signature solutions can now be used. This also opens the possibility to use cloud-based signature solutions.