A certificate is a document in which a thing is legitimized or considered true and a digital certificate is the equivalent of an identity card that serves to identify a person through the Internet.
As with the identity card, which is issued by the Civil Registry based on data related to the date, time and place of birth, the names of the parents, the signature or the fingerprint, the digital certificate contains the data that identifies a natural person.
With the digital certificate, the person can carry out operations through the websites of public institutions, such as financial institutions (such as Coopealianza), decentralized institutions (such as ICE or CCSS) or ministries (such as those of Finance, Economy).
It is a valuable tool that allows the person to carry out administrative procedures, at any time and from anywhere, without having to carry a folder of documents, stand in lines, or appear before an official with the identity card at hand. It is earned in time, money and health.
From the perspective of the public institution, the official who receives the document can be sure that the document is original, that it has not been tampered with by third parties, and that the person sending it cannot deny authorship of the signature.
Y it is extremely safe. Communications are encrypted. It consists of two cryptographic keys (secret), one public and one private, created using mathematical algorithms. It is like having a safe with two extremely complex keys (one only known to the certificate holder) without one of which the safe cannot be opened.
The other key, the public one, is part of the Digital Certificate granted by the Certification Authority which, in our case, is the Central Bank of Costa Rica.
Due to technical terms (algorithms, cryptographic keys and others), it may seem like a complex procedure to you; but is not. It is enough that you go to an institution duly authorized to provide the digital signature service, and an official will guide you to comply with the procedure, without complexities.
At Coopealianza we help you. We offer you the service of digital signature en our Villa Ligia office, Pérez Zeledón, with hours of attention to digital certificate applications from Monday to Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Saturdays from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., you can also request information at 2785-3000.
Nothing more, an additional tip: keep your private key secret, because if you lose it or it is stolen, you must cancel the certificate as soon as possible, as happens when you lose a credit card or a mobile phone.