Series 5 · Signatures around the world · 5.4

Uruguay: trust at national scale.

A public infrastructure for signature, identity and certification.

October 20267 min read

Uruguay is a small country, and that has an advantage that is rarely mentioned: it makes it possible to build digital infrastructure at national scale, coherently. In electronic signatures, that coherence shows. There is a framework law, a regulator within the digital government agency, an identity document with a built in signature, rules for cloud signing, and agreements that make Uruguayan signatures valid in neighboring countries.

The framework law

Law 18,600, of September 2009, governs electronic documents and electronic signatures. It distinguishes two categories: the electronic signature and the advanced electronic signature. The latter, based on a certificate issued by an accredited provider, is granted in Article 6 the same validity and effect as a handwritten signature. The law was implemented by Decree 436 of 2011.

The same law created the Electronic Certification Unit (UCE) as a deconcentrated body of the Agency for Electronic Government and the Information and Knowledge Society, AGESIC. The UCE accredits and oversees providers and manages the root of the national chain of trust.

Year	Milestone
2009	Law 18,600 on electronic documents and electronic signatures. Creation of the UCE.
2011	Decree 436, implementing the law.
2015	The National Civil Identification Directorate (DNIC) begins issuing the chip based national ID card, which includes an advanced electronic signature certificate.
2017	Law 19,535 adds the registry of trust service providers.
2018	Decree 70 regulates advanced electronic signatures with centralized custody, the basis for remote signing.
2020	Law 19,918 approves the Mercosur mutual recognition agreement for signatures.

A signature in your pocket

Since 2015, the Uruguayan national ID card has carried a chip with an advanced electronic signature certificate for its holder, protected by a PIN the person chooses when applying for the card. It is a design decision with far reaching consequences: anyone with a valid national ID card and a valid certificate potentially has a signature with the same value as a handwritten one, without buying anything extra. The certificate expires five years after issuance and is renewed at the National Civil Identification Office.

Signing without a device

Signing with the national ID card requires a card reader or a compatible phone. To make it easier to use, Law 19,535 of 2017 added the concept of trust service providers to Law 18,600, and Decree 70 of 2018 regulated advanced electronic signatures with centralized custody: the private key is held by an accredited provider, and a signature is produced only on the signer's express instruction. This is the legal basis for remote signing, or cloud signing, which makes it possible to sign with full legal effect from any device.

A clear law, a technical regulator and a signature built into the identity document: three pieces that few countries combine.

Beyond the border

In 2020 Uruguay approved the Mercosur Agreement on Mutual Recognition of Digital Signature Certificates, and according to the UCE, recognition is already in effect with Paraguay and Brazil, while implementation with Argentina moves forward. Together with Brazil, Uruguay is also taking part in the initial phase of the Mercosur Digital Citizen initiative to recognize digital identities across countries.

What still needs attention

Having the infrastructure does not guarantee it will be used. The challenge, in Uruguay as in any country, is for public and private organizations to integrate advanced electronic signatures into their real processes, preserve the evidence and choose the right level for each case, without falling back on scanned signatures or printing on paper to sign.

Key points

Uruguay combines a 2009 framework law that gives the advanced electronic signature the same standing as a handwritten one, a technical regulator, the UCE, a national ID card with a signature certificate since 2015, rules for remote signing since 2018, and recognition agreements with its neighbors. It is a national scale trust infrastructure whose value depends on its being used well.

Sources

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