Key points to note about the digital safe:
- A digital safe stores sensitive documents and protects them against attacks, while preserving their legal value.
- It enables secure collaboration within the organisation while ensuring compliance with the GDPR.
- A corporate digital safe can be used to secure invoices, payslips, contracts and other HR documents.
- To select an appropriate digital safe solution, five criteria must be assessed: security, ease of use, legal compliance, scalability and support.
What is a digital safe for business use?
Before examining the functions of a corporate digital safe, it is useful to clarify what it actually is.
Definition of a digital safe
A professional digital safe is not a simple storage space or a standard cloud service. It is a secure service designed for the preservation of sensitive electronic documents. It is intended not only to store information, but also to guarantee its integrity, traceability and, in some cases, its legal evidential value.
Unlike consumer-grade solutions such as shared cloud services or online storage platforms, a digital safe provides strict guarantees in terms of confidentiality, access control and long-term preservation.
Its implementation is not merely a technical measure. It is a genuine security initiative that requires the involvement of IT management and technical teams within the organisation. The digital safe is therefore tailored to the company’s needs in terms of storage capacity, compliance with NF and ISO standards, integration with existing systems (ERP, document management systems, business software) and the ability to meet regulatory obligations such as the GDPR.
How does a digital safe operate?
For a certified digital safe to fulfil its purpose effectively, it must incorporate several key functionalities:
- Data encryption (AES): all stored data is encrypted using recognised algorithms such as AES (Advanced Encryption Standard). This ensures that only authorised persons can decrypt the information, even if it is intercepted.
- Access control: access rights can be precisely configured to determine who may view, upload or modify a document.
- Multi-factor authentication (MFA): password-based access combined with additional factors such as SMS codes or authentication applications.
- Traceability and logging: every action (creation, consultation, modification, deletion) is recorded with a precise timestamp, enabling comprehensive audits.
- Long-term archiving with evidential value: documents are preserved with integrity safeguards that allow them to be produced as evidence before an authority or a court.
Digital safe security: standards and certifications
The security of a digital safe is based on recognised standards, in particular the French standard NF Z42-020. This standard ensures document integrity by defining the minimum functions that a digital safe must provide in order to preserve digital information under conditions that guarantee its integrity and its legal usability throughout the retention period.
Other French standards also underpin the security principles applicable to digital safes, including NF Z42-025 and NF Z42-026. These standards more specifically define the framework for managing electronic payslips and the specifications required to produce faithful digital copies of paper documents, as well as the legal equivalence between paper and digital documents required in the context of evidential electronic archiving.
At international level, ISO 27001 governs information security. It sets out the requirements for establishing, implementing, maintaining and continuously improving an information security management system (ISMS).
Finally, eIDAS is a European regulation that ensures legal trust in electronic exchanges. It establishes a unified framework for electronic identification, electronic signatures and related services, ensuring that electronic transactions and documents are legally recognised throughout the European Union.
Why use a digital safe within your organisation?
The use of a secure digital safe serves three main objectives.
1. Securing sensitive information
A digital safe protects highly sensitive data such as contracts, payslips and financial information. To achieve this, it relies on advanced encryption mechanisms and access control measures that make unauthorised access or interception by cybercriminals extremely difficult. The risks associated with data breaches or ransomware attacks are therefore significantly reduced.
2. Compliance with standards and regulations
A digital safe helps organisations meet strict legal requirements, including those arising under the GDPR. Its functionalities ensure the confidentiality, integrity and availability of personal data. It also facilitates the management of individuals’ rights of access and rectification.
3. Enabling secure collaboration
As all essential documents are centralised within the digital safe, they can be shared in a controlled manner between employees and, where appropriate, external partners. Information flows are streamlined, and risky practices such as sending unprotected email attachments are eliminated.
What data and documents can be stored in a digital safe?
A digital safe is not limited in terms of file formats. It can protect a wide range of professional documents, including electronic payslips, contracts, HR records, customer and supplier invoices, accounting documents and similar materials.
Digital safe and invoices
Secure preservation of customer and supplier invoices provides several benefits. It:
- guarantees the integrity of invoices;
- facilitates their traceability and legibility throughout the statutory retention period;
- meets tax requirements relating to electronic archiving;
- simplifies presentation during inspections or audits;
- reduces the risks of error, loss or documentary fraud.
Digital safe and HR data
In the human resources context, the digital safe is used for the secure distribution and archiving of payslips and employment contracts. It ensures the confidentiality of personal data, compliance with the GDPR and long-term employee access to their documents.
The use of a secure digital safe also facilitates document tracking, including after employees leave the organisation, and reduces legal risks associated with the retention of sensitive records.
How to choose the right digital safe for your business?
Selecting an appropriate digital safe solution requires an understanding of the relevant selection criteria and the choice of a suitable provider.
Criteria to consider when selecting a digital safe
Five key criteria should be examined when choosing a suitable digital safe:
- Security: strong data encryption, strong authentication mechanisms and comprehensive traceability.
- Ease of use: a clear and intuitive interface and efficient workflows.
- Legal compliance: alignment with GDPR, eIDAS, NF and ISO requirements.
- Scalability: capacity to accommodate increasing document volumes, new business uses and integration with other systems.
- Support and assistance: availability of technical support and regular updates.
How to implement a digital safe within an organisation?
Implementing a corporate digital safe requires a preliminary assessment of available solutions. Rushed decisions often lead to inappropriate provider selection or insufficient tailoring of the subscribed service. It is therefore essential to take the time to assess needs, select the most suitable solution, train teams and develop the necessary procedures.
1. Assessing the organisation’s specific needs
Identifying the types of documents to be secured, their volumes and the associated legal requirements helps define the technical criteria for the digital safe. A clear prioritisation exercise is also necessary to anticipate organisational constraints.
2. Selecting the appropriate solution
The choice of digital safe must take into account the required level of security, applicable standards, the organisation’s growth prospects and the existing systems to be integrated.
3. Training teams
Raising employee awareness of good practices and proper use of the digital safe reduces errors and supports day-to-day adoption of the document management system.
4. Integrating the digital safe into existing processes
Integration with ERP or document management systems enables smooth centralisation of document management and automation of workflows. API connectors and the ongoing involvement of IT management throughout the process ensure reliable synchronisation and effective support during this transition.
5. Establishing monitoring and maintenance procedures
Once the solution is in place, rules governing supervision, access control and regular updates must be defined. This ensures service continuity, regulatory compliance and long-term sustainability.
Limitations and points requiring attention
Despite their many advantages, digital safes present several limitations that must be anticipated:
- Dependence on the provider: service continuity depends on the reliability of the selected provider.
- Risk of loss of access in the event of forgotten credentials or failure of recovery mechanisms.
- Subscription and maintenance costs that must be factored into the budget.
- Implementation complexity: configuration, access rights, staff training and ongoing monitoring.
- Exposure to cybercrime and targeted attacks, despite encryption and security measures.
Summary
A certified digital safe is an important tool for ensuring the security of corporate documents and optimising access to them. To deploy a solution suited to the organisation, five criteria must be assessed: the required level of security, ease of use, compliance with NF and ISO standards, scalability and the quality of support.
Incorporating these criteria into the selection process facilitates the choice of an appropriate solution, internal team training, integration of the digital safe into existing processes and the establishment of effective maintenance procedures.
References
[1] https://www.opinion-way.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/CP-Digiposte-Barometre-Dematerialisation-RH-Janvier-2025.pdf
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