E-Government Act: provisions & principles
Online information, forms and services must be accessible to all and designed to be simple and user-friendly. Austria has committed itself to complying with the European Union's guidelines in the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).
Identity linking
Identity linking uniquely and unambiguously links the Citizen Card to the legal holder of the card.
The SourcePIN Register Authority confirms with an electronic seal that the holder of the Citizen Card was assigned that sourcePIN as a unique identifier. The identity link is entered on the Citizen Card. The Citizen Card can exist in many different forms, because it consists of a technology-neutral collection of functions and does not necessarily have to be a "card".
The carrier medium can be a chip card, but it can also be a mobile phone (ID Austria).
The Citizen Card is therefore a "logical entity"; an "entry on your Citizen Card" is not the same as a physical entry on a particular data carrier.
The SourcePIN Register Authority confirms with an electronic seal that the holder of the Citizen Card was assigned that sourcePIN as a unique identifier. The identity link is entered on the Citizen Card. The Citizen Card can exist in many different forms, because it consists of a technology-neutral collection of functions and does not necessarily have to be a "card".
The carrier medium can be a chip card, but it can also be a mobile phone (ID Austria).
The Citizen Card is therefore a "logical entity"; an "entry on your Citizen Card" is not the same as a physical entry on a particular data carrier.
Electronic authorisation
People can authorise someone else to make applications for them. In such a case, the SourcePIN Register Authority can issue confirmation that either a power of representation to represent non-natural persons, or a power of representation to represent natural persons, is in place.
Electronic power of attorney – official administrators as representatives
Citizens or business people who are unable or unwilling to carry out an online process themselves can assign this task to a representative. The precondition for this is to have an electronic power of attorney, which can be made electronically accessible using the representative's ID Austria account.
Citizens can also authorise an official administrator at their local municipality or district administrative authority – if such a provision is in place there – to make Citizen Card-based online applications on their behalf. Such an online application is signed using the official administrator's ID Austria account.
You can find more information about requesting a power of attorney here: Power of Attorney Service.
Electronic power of attorney – official administrators as representatives
Citizens or business people who are unable or unwilling to carry out an online process themselves can assign this task to a representative. The precondition for this is to have an electronic power of attorney, which can be made electronically accessible using the representative's ID Austria account.
Citizens can also authorise an official administrator at their local municipality or district administrative authority – if such a provision is in place there – to make Citizen Card-based online applications on their behalf. Such an online application is signed using the official administrator's ID Austria account.
You can find more information about requesting a power of attorney here: Power of Attorney Service.
Once-only principle
Government authorities are required – within their technical capabilities and in accordance with the legal requirements – to make use of existing data relating to the person in question, taken from the electronic registers of a client under public law (and not only data from the Register of Residents). This means that certain data (birth certificate, proof of nationality, certificate of registration or Companies Register entries) does not have to be presented multiple times but can, with the consent of the person in question or on the basis of a legal authorisation, be requested directly from an electronic register.
However, this duty of the authorities to request data does not in any way extend their existing investigatory powers, because they are only acting on the basis of existing authorisations (established either by consent or under the law).
However, this duty of the authorities to request data does not in any way extend their existing investigatory powers, because they are only acting on the basis of existing authorisations (established either by consent or under the law).
One-stop principle
Austria has implemented the principle of setting up a single virtual contact point (one-stop shop) for citizens and businesses. This means that unnecessary bureaucracy and time-wasting can be avoided by using the government portal oesterreich.gv.at. Once a process has been started, it is assigned in an automation-based process to the relevant departments within the public administration system. Ideally, the citizen is notified in a user-friendly way, by electronic document delivery, that it has been dealt with.
Barrier-free information and communication
When implementing e-government services, to be guided by international standards such as the guidelines in the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) and by the legal requirements is not just an end in itself. It's primarily a question of making online services available that can be used by everyone equally easily, quickly and conveniently. More information here: Barrier-free web – Internet access for all.