Electronic communication is increasingly being mentioned everywhere around us, as it is very simple, saves you a great deal of time, and allows you to take care of many things from the comfort of your own home. Official communication with public authorities is no exception, as technological progress is increasingly shifting these interactions to the online environment.
First of all, we consider it important to highlight a characteristic shared by both email and an electronic mailbox. Both tools can only be used with an internet connection and serve as means of electronic communication, allowing users to receive, send, and store messages and documents. Visually, an email inbox is very similar to an electronic mailbox, which contributes to their ease of use in practice.
The main differences between these tools lie in how they are set up and used, the purpose of the communication, access to each tool, and other related aspects.
Email can be used for communication between two or more users, with no restrictions on the recipients or the content of messages. In practice, you can send almost anything to anyone.
An electronic mailbox, by contrast, is intended for official communication with public administration authorities (e.g. government offices, courts, the Social Insurance Agency, etc.) and for communication from these authorities to the public. It is a fully-fledged equivalent of paper-based correspondence. This may include official documents (decisions) delivered by public authorities, as well as submissions (applications) sent to public authorities by natural persons and legal entities.
Through an electronic mailbox, you can submit an electronic serviceOpens in a new window that uses a specific form, or use the general-purpose form called “General AgendaOpens in a new window” if the service provider does not offer a dedicated service. Every public authority has at least the “General AgendaOpens in a new window” service registered on the slovensko.sk portal. Natural persons and legal entities cannot communicate with one another through electronic mailboxes.
Setting up an email account is very simple. You just need to register with an email service provider and choose your login credentials. Users must be at least 16 years old to create an email account.
The establishment of electronic mailboxes is governed by Act No. 305/2013 Coll. on e-GovernmentOpens in a new window. Under this Act, electronic mailboxes are established for natural persons, natural persons conducting business, legal entities, public authorities and subjects of international law.
Electronic mailboxes are automatically established for Slovak citizens, i.e. natural persons, upon reaching the age of 18. For natural persons conducting business and legal entities, an electronic mailbox is established automatically once information is received confirming their registration in the relevant register.
You can log in to your electronic mailbox through the slovensko.sk portal. For more information, see the section “How to Start Communicating with the State ElectronicallyOpens in a new window”.
If you are a foreign natural person and hold a foreign electronic identification (eID) credential issued by an EU Member State, you can log in using the eIDAS Node. For more information, see the instructions on logging in through the eIDAS NodeOpens in a new window.
Both tools require an internet connection. To use email, you also need an electronic device, such as a mobile phone, tablet or computer.
Logging in to an electronic mailbox requires several additional tools because the mailbox may contain sensitive data and documents with legal effects.
In addition to an internet connection and a computer, you need an eID card — a national identity card with an electronic chip — and a BOK (Personal Security Code), which you use to log in. You can obtain the BOK at any identity document department of a District Police Directorate.
You must also install signing certificates to be able to sign submissions with a Qualified Electronic Signature (QES).
Instructions on how to obtain signing certificates are available in a short video tutorialOpens in a new window. A guideOpens in a new window published by the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic is also available.
You will also need a card reader for your eID card and the relevant software. This software is available free of charge as a single installation package in the “Software applications for downloadOpens in a new window” section of the slovensko.sk portal.
For more information about logging in to your electronic mailbox, see the guide to logging in to the portal and accessing your electronic mailbox.Opens in a new window
Email communication is very straightforward. Just as you can write and send a message or document, you can also receive and view the contents of an email. However, if you submit an application to an authority by email and it requires your handwritten signature, you must subsequently supplement the submission in paper form or in person within a specified time limit for it to be considered complete.
An electronic mailbox allows you to complete various official submissions electronically, fully replacing paper submissions requiring an officially certified signature. This is because you can sign submissions with a Qualified Electronic Signature (QES), and the registry office automatically adds a time stamp free of charge.
You do not need to activate your electronic mailbox for electronic delivery in order to send submissions. However, you must activate it to receive official electronic documents, such as administrative decisions.
If you activate your electronic mailbox for delivery, official decisions will be sent directly to your electronic mailbox. This means that if you are absent from the delivery address, you will not need to collect paper documents from the post office.
Only public authorities can send official decisions to your electronic mailbox. Please note that delivery to an electronic mailbox has the same legal effects as delivery in paper form. You should therefore pay close attention to the legal consequences of delivery and to any applicable deadlines.
We recommend setting up email or SMS notifications Opens in a new windowso that you are alerted whenever a new message arrives in your electronic mailbox. This means you do not need to log in every day to check for new messages.
Natural persons and self-employed individuals may activate their electronic mailboxes voluntarily. For more information, see the guide to activating an electronic mailbox for delivery.Opens in a new window
Legal entities registered in the Commercial Register and public authorities are required by law to have their electronic mailboxes activated.
An email account (profile) can be cancelled or deactivated at any time, without giving a reason.
An electronic mailbox cannot be cancelled simply at the user's request.
The mailbox will be cancelled and its contents deleted in the event of the death of a natural person, a legal declaration of death, or the dissolution of a legal entity without a legal successor. In the case of a legal entity without a legal successor, cancellation takes place after three years have elapsed from the date on which the mailbox administrator is notified of the relevant event through the applicable reference register.
In the case of a public authority, one of its organisational units, or an organisation established by it, the electronic mailbox may be cancelled upon request, within the period specified in the request.
An electronic mailbox can only be deactivated, rather than cancelled, and only in the case of natural persons and self-employed individuals who voluntarily requested its activation for electronic delivery.
Unlike ordinary email, an electronic mailbox provides a higher level of protection for sensitive data.
You do not log in using only a username and password; instead, you use an eID card. Authentication using the eID card takes place through an authentication system protected by secure encryption.
The data stored on the electronic chip of the eID card is protected by security mechanisms and the Personal Security Code (BOK). Only authorised entities possessing the relevant access certificate can retrieve data from the chip. The eID card is therefore effectively protected against security threats such as impersonation, theft, data tampering and cloning.
Users of both email and electronic mailboxes should also follow secure usage practices.
For both tools, the first line of protection is the password or BOK, which you can choose yourself. We recommend that you do not use your personal identification number (birth number) as your BOK. Instead, choose a randomly generated numeric code.
It is also important not to share these credentials with other people, so that nobody else can access or misuse them.
If you need to write down your credentials to remember them more easily, make sure you store them in a secure place. For example, do not store your BOK together with your identity card.
When logging in from an electronic device, remember to log out properly before closing the browser. This helps prevent other people from gaining access to your data.
