Trusted electronic preservation: what it is and what it is not
Technical integrity and legally trusted electronic preservation are not the same thing. What NG DMS provides itself, and what a qualified trust service provider adds.
In short
- Technical integrity proves a file has not changed; trusted electronic preservation under the law also needs a qualified seal and timestamp.
- NG DMS itself provides a SHA-256 fingerprint at intake, a PDF/A-2b archival copy, a weekly integrity check and a hash-chained audit trail.
- A qualified seal and timestamp at archiving are added by a qualified trust service provider that NG DMS connects to.
- The internal integrity seal serves internal control and is labelled as non-qualified in the document.
Short answer: trusted electronic preservation as defined by the Serbian Law on Electronic Document is more than “a well-kept file”. Besides technical integrity, it needs a qualified electronic seal and timestamp over the archived document, issued by a qualified trust service provider. NG DMS itself provides technical integrity — a SHA-256 fingerprint of every file, a PDF/A-2b archival copy, a regular check and an audit trail — and obtains the qualified layer from the provider it connects to.
Why the difference matters
“Archived in the system” and “preserved in a legally trusted way” sound alike but are not the same. A system can keep a file flawlessly and still not be the form of preservation a regulation refers to when it asks for trust. If a vendor stays quiet about it, the organization finds the gap only during an inspection. That is why it is worth knowing which layer proves what.
What NG DMS provides itself
- A fingerprint at intake. Before processing, a SHA-256 hash is computed and compared with the originals and archival copies of all the organization's documents, so a duplicate is recognised before a document is created.
- Antivirus without exceptions. A file that was not scanned is not accepted, even when the scanner is temporarily unavailable.
- The original never changes. An archival copy in PDF/A-2b with a text layer is created next to it. A signed PDF stays as it is, so its signature remains valid.
- Integrity check. Weekly and on demand, the system checks that the original, the archival copy and the thumbnail are in storage and that their SHA-256 matches the record, and that no file remains that should no longer be there. Findings reach the people responsible as a notification.
- A hash-chained audit trail. Every change is append-only, with a hash chain per organization, and is not deleted even when a document is.
- An archive book with chained entries. Every entry carries a check fingerprint linked to the previous one, so a later change shows up when the whole sequence is checked.
- A digitization record. For scanned paper, who, when, where, with which device and procedure is recorded.
- An access trail for sensitive material. For documents marked Strictly confidential or Personal data, opening, printing and downloading are recorded.
What a qualified provider adds
- a qualified electronic seal and timestamp at archiving, which NG DMS requests and keeps with the document;
- the legal weight that technical integrity alone does not have;
- together with immutable storage for permanent categories, preservation in which not even an administrator can change a file before its period ends.
An internal seal is not a qualified seal. The internal electronic signature and internal integrity seal in NG DMS serve internal control: the seal proves that a file has not changed since it was sealed. The document itself states that they are not qualified, so they can never be mistaken for a qualified seal.
What it means for paper
Decide which paper originals to keep after scanning according to the regulations and your list of record categories. How the archive book, the list of categories and disposal work in NG DMS is described in The archive book and the list of record categories. The integrity mechanisms are summarised on the Compliance page, and the archive on the Registry and archive page.
To see how this looks in your organization, book a demo.
Frequently asked questions
Does NG DMS support trusted electronic preservation?
NG DMS itself provides technical integrity of the archive: a fingerprint, a PDF/A copy, an integrity check and an audit trail. For trusted preservation under the law it connects to a qualified trust service provider, which adds a qualified seal and timestamp.
How does NG DMS show that a file has not changed?
A SHA-256 fingerprint is recorded at intake, and the weekly integrity check, as well as a check on demand, compares the files in storage with the record and reports every mismatch. Every metadata change goes into the hash-chained trail.
Is the internal integrity seal a qualified seal?
No. The internal seal proves that a file has not changed since it was sealed and serves internal control. A qualified seal is issued by a qualified trust service provider.
What is immutable (WORM) storage?
Storage in which a file, once written, cannot be changed or deleted before a set period ends — not even by an administrator. In NG DMS it is used for permanent categories.
Can I discard the paper once a document is scanned into NG DMS?
That decision follows the regulations and your list of record categories. NG DMS keeps a digitization record and the scan with its integrity, but what must be kept on paper is set by the regulation.
Want to see how this looks in NG DMS?
We will show you in a demo, on examples from your own registry office — from the scan to NG Copilot’s answer. No obligation.