e-Delivery in practice: How to use the Polish Post service?
The digital services market is witnessing a transformation that is clearly changing the way many traditional services are provided, while also enabling convenient communication with government offices without leaving home. Some of these modern tools are so-called trust services, distinguished by their compliance with the eIDAS Regulation and ETSI standards. An example of this type of solution is the e-Delivery service, which guarantees the secure sending and receiving of documents via laptop, tablet, or phone. Citizens and businesses are no longer required to personally collect and send registered letters or archive paper correspondence. Today, all of these activities can be conveniently handled online. The designated operator for the e-Delivery service is Poczta Polska.
e-Delivery allows access to all matters in one place. Thanks to unique electronic delivery addresses (ADE), which can be compared to assigning individual PESEL numbers, the ADE is assigned to a given individual, company, or public entity, guaranteeing the sender and recipient of the message. The ADE has an alphanumeric structure, e.g., AE:PL-12345–67890-ABCDE-12, and is entered into the Database of Electronic Addresses (BAE), a register maintained by the Minister of Digital Affairs. Another important aspect is the requirement to authenticate with an electronic identification means, both to submit an ADE application and to use e-Delivery, which secures users' identities. Furthermore, e-Delivery allows users to verify the status of their correspondence through real-time proofs at every stage of the process (i.e., the date of posting and delivery confirmed by a qualified time stamp).
It's important to emphasize that these types of trust services are subject to much stricter standards than those of standard email providers. Parcels are sent via a trust service through a so-called trusted third party, or trust service provider, ensuring the highest level of security and confidentiality of transmitted documents.
How to activate e-Delivery?
Establishing an Electronic Delivery Address (ADE) is possible after submitting an application to the Minister responsible for IT. This can be done quickly and conveniently via the gov.pl by answering a few simple questions. After creating an account, simply activate the public delivery address (SD), which will enable e-Delivery in communications with public entities.
By clicking on the additional services panel, you can activate an additional service for communicating with non-public entities, namely Q-Delivery. After accepting the terms and conditions, a Qualified Delivery Box (SDK) is created in real time. From this point on, you can freely use the service, communicating electronically and securely with other holders of Electronic Delivery Addresses (ADE), the number of which will increase over time.
The issuance of ADEs by the Minister and the electronic address database (BAE) managed by him guarantee that we know exactly who we are corresponding with – there is no possibility of impersonation. Each user wishing to use the service must authenticate themselves, i.e., log in using an electronic identification method, such as a trusted profile.
Extended version of e-Delivery for business
Poczta Polska was the first in Poland to build a qualified registered electronic delivery service, which it introduced in January of this year under the name Q-Delivery. This service complements the e-Delivery offering, enabling communication between non-public entities, including individuals and companies.
The company, as part of Q-Delivery, is entered into the national and European register of qualified trust service providers and holds a trust service provider certificate for the provision of qualified registered electronic delivery services. This means that it has received a positive result from an audit conducted by a company accredited by the European Commission.
Poczta Polska maintains the status of a qualified trust service provider for Q-Delivery. The company recently successfully passed a Registered Electronic Delivery audit, which, according to eIDAS requirements, must be conducted at least every two years. The audit results confirm the high level of compliance and quality of Poczta Polska's digital service.