De-Mail
Encyclopedia
De-Mail is a German
E-Government communications service that makes it possible to exchange legal electronic documents between citizens, agencies, and businesses over the Internet. The project called Bürgerportal is realized by the German government in cooperation with private business partners in an effort to reduce communication costs of administration and companies.
The project was announced in 2008 and has been accepted by Bundestag
and Bundesrat
in early 2011. It is expected to go into law during the first half of 2011.
Directive on services in the internal market
which demands that authorities accept legally binding electronical communication until the end of 2009.
The government only specifies legal and technical requirements for the services, but is not going to provide these. This role will be taken by private companies which will be allowed to provide De-Mail services after an official certification
process.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
E-Government communications service that makes it possible to exchange legal electronic documents between citizens, agencies, and businesses over the Internet. The project called Bürgerportal is realized by the German government in cooperation with private business partners in an effort to reduce communication costs of administration and companies.
The project was announced in 2008 and has been accepted by Bundestag
Bundestag
The Bundestag is a federal legislative body in Germany. In practice Germany is governed by a bicameral legislature, of which the Bundestag serves as the lower house and the Bundesrat the upper house. The Bundestag is established by the German Basic Law of 1949, as the successor to the earlier...
and Bundesrat
Bundesrat of Germany
The German Bundesrat is a legislative body that represents the sixteen Länder of Germany at the federal level...
in early 2011. It is expected to go into law during the first half of 2011.
Background
With the introduction of De-Mail the German legislation implements the EUEuropean Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
Directive on services in the internal market
Directive on services in the internal market
The Directive on services in the internal market is an EU law aiming at establishing a single market for services within the European Union . Drafted under the leadership of the former European Commissioner for the Internal Market Frits Bolkestein, it has been popularly referred to by his name...
which demands that authorities accept legally binding electronical communication until the end of 2009.
The government only specifies legal and technical requirements for the services, but is not going to provide these. This role will be taken by private companies which will be allowed to provide De-Mail services after an official certification
Certification
Certification refers to the confirmation of certain characteristics of an object, person, or organization. This confirmation is often, but not always, provided by some form of external review, education, assessment, or audit...
process.
Services
Besides email communication, other services are specified that support the communication process.- De-Mail the email communication service which also specifies several options commonly known from postal mail, such as registered mailRegistered mailRegistered mail describes letters, packets or other postal documents considered valuable and need a chain of custody that provides more control than regular mail. The posted item has its details recorded in a register to enable its location to be tracked, sometimes with added insurance to cover loss...
, personal delivery (delivery only to the recipient, not to any representatives), delivery and pick-up notifications.
- De-Mail Accounts can be registered by individuals and companies and require identification of the applicant. Email addresses for individials will have the form
. @ .de-mail.de (but can also be registered for pseudonyms if marked as such), companies can also register subdomains in the form of .de-mail.de.
- De-Ident allows users request signed proof of identityIdentity documentAn identity document is any document which may be used to verify aspects of a person's personal identity. If issued in the form of a small, mostly standard-sized card, it is usually called an identity card...
from their provider (based on the identification during the account signup process) which can then be forwarded via De-Mail to eg online shops to provide proof of identity, age, etc.
- De-Safe provides users with an encrypted online storage for documents. Usage of this service does, however, not fulfill the legal storage and archiving requirements for documents.
Usage
Usage should be voluntary all users, and should only be an additional option to postal mail.Criticism
Several aspects of the law have sparked criticism of the system.- Communication between De-Mail and regular email addresses will not be possible. The same applies to clients using the electronic court and administration mail (Elektronisches Gerichts- und Verwaltungspostfach) which already provides legal electronic communication between courts and other participating governmental organizations.
- End-to-end encryptionEnd-to-end encryptionEnd-to-end encryption encrypts clear data at source with knowledge of the intended recipient, allowing the encrypted data to travel safely through vulnerable channels End-to-end encryption (E2EE) encrypts clear (red) data at source with knowledge of the intended recipient, allowing the encrypted...
can be offered by the providers but is not mandatory. However, users can still apply encryption before sending De-Mail messages. This would make it possible for providers to read emails before transmission and can constitute a possible point of attack.
- The data provided during the identication process for the account creation will be centrally stored and available to the authorities. The draft law even specifies naming the account owner to private individuals.
- Official notifications are delivered once they are available in the recipient's mailbox. This is contrary to the postal mail, where a letter is only seen as legally delivered after it has been accepted by the recipient.
Current Providers
The following companies are currently certified as De-Mail providers- Deutsche PostDeutsche PostDeutsche Post AG, operating under the trade name Deutsche Post DHL, is the world's largest logistics group. With its headquarters in Bonn, the corporation has 467,088 employees in more than 220 countries and territories worldwide and generated revenue of € 51.48 billion in 2010...
- United Internet AG (brands GMXGMX MailGMX Mail is a German-based free webmail service provided by GMX . Founded in 1997, GMX is a subsidiary of United Internet AG, a stock-listed company in Germany, and a sister company to 1&1 Internet and Fasthosts Internet...
and Web.de) - Deutsche Telekom AG
- MentanaMentanaMentana is a town and comune in the province of Rome, Lazio, central Italy.-History:Mentana's name in ancient times was Nomentum, to which the Via Nomentana led from Rome. According to Livy, the town was part of the Latin League, which went to war with Rome during the reign of Rome's king Lucius...
- T-SystemsT-SystemsT-Systems is a worldwide operating ICT provider founded in October 2000. It belongs to Deutsche Telekom AG and its central office is located in Bonn, Germany. Within Deutsche Telekom AG it is responsible for multinational corporations and public-sector institutions. It operates in more than 20...
External links
- English description of the project, from the German government
- de-mail.de - Official Website (German)
- State-of-the-art De-Mail (26. January 2011) (German)
- The Register (7. March 2011)