Central Seal Infrastructure (ZeSI)

Your Benefits at a Glance:

• Legally compliant – secure documents that meet legal requirements
• Tamper-proof – ensures authenticity and integrity
• Efficient – speeds up digital administrative workflows
• Sustainable – saves paper, digitises processes
• Simple – verify authenticity instantly via the app

ZeSI Product Details

With standardised interfaces, ZeSI enables the secure sealing and verification of administrative documents in accordance with eIDAS and BSI standards. The solution provides qualified certificates (QSeal ID) that guarantee the authenticity of the issuing authority. The cryptographically protected Visual Digital Seal (VDS), a QR or DataMatrix code, is applied directly to the document and can be verified using a corresponding qualified certificate. Whether digital or printed: the VDS can be verified anywhere and offers maximum forgery protection. Verification can be completed on a smartphone using the free ZeSI Mobile app (on Google Play and in the Apple App Store) or in a PDF reader. The ZeSI infrastructure complies with all relevant laws and standards for electronic sealing, delivering greater security, transparency and efficiency in public administration.

The Central Seal Infrastructure is compliant with all relevant laws and standards that are relevant for the electronic sealing of documents. These laws include:

• eIDAS Regulation: EU regulation on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the internal market
• BSI TR-03171: technical guidelines of the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) for digital seals
• OZG 2.0 and RegMoG: Online Access Act, which regulates the digitisation of administrative services in Germany and was amended in mid-2024 (OZG Amendment Act) and Register Modernisation Act (Act on the Introduction and Use of an Identification Number in Public Administration)

ZeSI is the first solution on the market that fully implements the BSI TR. It uses the LeiKa ID to uniquely identify all German administrative documents. This in turn is a standardised procedure for describing and classifying documents in the context of register modernisation.

The Central Seal Infrastructure comprises various components that mesh seamlessly with one another, making the sealing process both secure and efficient.

ZeSI can be used for all German administrative documents at all levels of government and offers a wide range of use cases. Key application areas include:

• Certificates and notices (e.g. certificates, permits, transcripts)
• Digital case processing and e-file: issue and manage integrity-protected documents
• Long-term archiving (preserving authenticity and evidentiary value over many years) 

The Central Seal Infrastructure ensures the integrity, authenticity and validity of documents and preserves their probative value. The qualified electronic seal (QSeal) used for this purpose replaces the written form requirement for electronic administrative acts pursuant to Section 3a(2) of the Administrative Procedure Act (VwVfG). In doing so, ZeSI makes a significant contribution to the legally compliant digitisation of administrative services at federal, state and local level.

FAQs