In recent years, with the expansion of the digital records and the municipal digital procedures, two concepts have become commonplace in Argentine public management: Electronic Signature y Digital Signature. Although in everyday language they are often used as synonyms, legally they are not.
Both are recognized by Argentine law and can be valid to sign documents, but they have different scopes, technical requirements and evidentiary effects. The choice of one or the other depends on the level of security required and the legal risk of the administrative act to be formalized.
This article explains their differences on the basis of the current legal framework, mainly the Digital Signature Law 25.506 and its regulations, with a focus on municipal use cases.
General legal framework
In Argentina, the regime of electronic and digital signatures is regulated by the Law 25,506, The new law was enacted in 2001, together with its regulatory decrees and complementary rules.
The law recognizes two different figures:
- Electronic Signature
- Digital Signature
Both allow to express will and grant validity to electronic documents, but with different levels of guarantee and evidentiary burden.
What is the Electronic Signature?
The Electronic Signature is any set of data in digital format that allows the signer to be identified and linked to the signed document.
At the municipal level, typical examples of electronic signatures include:
- A municipal inspector approving a record within a digital file system with his or her user name and password.
- An official validating an inspection by means of an OTP code sent by SMS or email.
- The acceptance of a procedure by a citizen through a municipal portal with authentication.
- Signing in document management platforms that do not use digital certificates issued by a licensed Certificate Authority.
Main features
- It is 100% legally valid.
- If someone is unaware of having signed with an electronic signature, whoever invokes this signature must prove its validity (e.g., through system logs, authentication logs, access auditing, etc.).
- It is flexible and agile for day-to-day management.
- It is widely used in administrative procedures of low or medium risk.
What is Digital Signature?
The Digital Signature is a specific, more robust form of electronic signature, based on asymmetric cryptography and in the use of a digital certificate issued by a Certifying Authority licensed by the Argentine State.
It works with two keys:
- A private key, which is owned only by the signatory.
- A public key, contained in its digital certificate and verifiable by third parties.
Main features
- It has legal presumption of authorship and integrity.
If someone does not know a document signed with digital signature, it is up to the signatory to prove that the signature does not belong to him or her. - Requires a certificate issued by a Certification Authority.
Key difference: burden of proof
This is the most relevant difference in administrative practice.
Let's assume a conflict:
A neighbor contests a commercial closure and argues that he never signed the infraction notice.
- If the minutes have Electronic Signature:
The municipality must prove that the neighbor actually signed and received the notification (system records, geolocation, traceability, etc.). - If the minutes have Digital Signature:
In principle, it is presumed that the neighbor signed it. If he denies it, it is up to the neighbor to prove that his certificate was compromised or misused.
Therefore, the digital signature provides greater legal certainty in administrative acts of a more critical nature.
Municipal examples: when to use each one
Procedures where the Electronic Signature is usually sufficient
In local governments, electronic signatures are often suitable for:
- Qualification certificates (construction sites, stores, etc).
- Routine inspection reports (commerce, urban hygiene, minor works).
- Internal authorizations between municipal areas (e.g., transfer of files between areas).
- Management of low or medium-risk citizen applications.
- Technical reports within digital files.
- Validations of digital in-desks.
In these cases, the key thing is that the system has traceability, auditing and access control.
Procedures where the Digital Signature is advisable
The digital signature is usually recommended in:
- Formal administrative resolutions (decrees, provisions, resolutions, ordinances).
- Bids of very high amounts.
- Contracts signed by the municipality with concession companies.
- Electronic notifications with full legal effects.
- Documentation that may end up in court.
All these cases could also be handled with an electronic signature, but the presumption of authorship and integrity of the digital signature provides greater legal protection to the agency.
Does one replace the other?
Not exactly.
The Digital Signature is a species within the genus “Electronic Signature”.
That is to say, all digital signatures are electronic signatures, but not all electronic signatures are digital signatures.
In practical terms:
- The electronic signature is more agile for the daily management of municipal procedures.
- The digital signature is more secure for high impact administrative acts.
So, do I choose digital signature or electronic signature?
For choose between electronic signature and digital signature, municipalities should evaluate:
- The legal risk of the procedure.
- The impact of the administrative act.
- The possibility of future challenges.
- The need to interoperate with other agencies (provincial or national).
As a general rule:
- For operational management and low- or medium-risk procedures, electronic signature is usually sufficient.
- For formal decisions, sanctions or contracts of high amounts, digital signature is the most solid option.
