April 16, 2024 Publication of the “Final Report of Study Group on e-Seal,” “Guidelines on e-Seal (Second Edition),” and the Results of Public Solicitation for Opinions

 The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) solicited opinions on the “Final Report of Study Group on e-Seal (Draft)” and the “Guidelines on e-Seal (Second Edition) (Draft),” which summarized the results of the studies conducted by the Study Group on e-Seal (Chaired by TEZUKA Satoru, Professor at the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University), from Friday, March 8 to Wednesday, March 27, 2024. Based on the opinions submitted, MIC prepared and published the “Final Report of Study Group on e-Seal” and the “Guidelines on e-Seal (Second Edition),” together with the results of public solicitation for opinions.

1. Overview

 Amidst the advancement of digitalization across society, it is absolutely essential to develop infrastructure that allows safe and secure distribution of electronic data, and the use of trust services that prevent falsification of electronic data, impersonation, etc., are expected. Especially since the volume of electronic data issued by companies, etc., is increasing, using “e-Seal” to verify the issuer of electronic data from companies, etc., is expected to improve operational efficiency and productivity.
 In this context, the Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications held the “Study Group on e-Seal” in September 2023 to discuss the necessity of establishing a certification system for e-Seal to promote the further spread and utilization of e-Seal. Based on the final results of the study group’s deliberations, MIC solicited opinions for the “Final Report of Study Group on e-Seal (Draft)” and the “Guidelines on e-Seal (Second Edition) (Draft)” from Friday, March 8 to Wednesday, March 27, 2024. As a result, seven opinions for the Final Report (Draft) and six opinions for the Guidelines (Draft) were submitted.
 Based on the opinions submitted, MIC prepared the “Final Report of Study Group on e-Seal” and “Guidelines on e-Seal (Second Edition)” and published them together with the results of the public solicitation for opinions. MIC will continue to consider the development of related regulations based on the contents of the final report so that the Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications will begin operating the certification system for e-Seal during FY 2024.

2. Results of the public consultation

○ The “Final Report of Study Group on e-Seal” is shown in Attachment 1.
○ The “Guidelines on e-Seals (Second Edition)” is shown in Attachment 2.

3. How to obtain materials

 The relevant materials will be posted in the “Public Comment” section of the e-Government General Contact Point [e-Gov] (https://www.e-gov.go.jp).