Artifact Signing — Are Dutch sole proprietorships (eenmanszaak) eligible for Organization Public Trust validation?

Question

Artifact Signing — Are Dutch sole proprietorships (eenmanszaak) eligible for Organization Public Trust validation?

Mikhail K 0

Hello Microsoft Artifact Signing team,

I'd like to clarify the eligibility requirements for Organization → Public Trust identity validation in the Netherlands.

Under Dutch law, an eenmanszaak (sole proprietorship) is registered with the Chamber of Commerce (KvK) but is not a separate legal entity from its owner.

Microsoft's documentation confirms that EU organizations are supported, but it is unclear whether this includes sole proprietorships.

There are some relevant discussions:

A Microsoft employee confirmed that Artifact Signing has no minimum organization-age restrictions: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/5977141/

A French sole proprietor reported successfully completing Organization Public Trust validation using a SIREN registration number: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/5987454/

Could the Artifact Signing team clarify the following?

Are Dutch KvK-registered sole proprietorships (eenmanszaak) eligible for Organization → Public Trust identity validation, despite not having separate legal personality?

Is the KvK registration number the correct business identifier to use for verification?

Does the absence of a minimum organization-age requirement also apply to newly registered EU sole proprietorships?

Can a KvK-registered trade name be used as the certificate publisher name, or must the owner's legal name be used?

An authoritative clarification would be helpful for Dutch independent software developers considering Artifact Signing.

Thank you!

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Answer 1

Hi @Mikhail K

You've already found the key pieces. Here's what the official docs do and don't say, so you can judge the risk before applying:

Country: Public Trust for organizations is available in the European Union, so the Netherlands is covered. Individual developers are limited to the United States and Canada, so the organization route is the only Public Trust option for you.
Entity type: The docs ask for the "legal business entity" and a business registration document. They don't mention sole proprietorships either way, and Microsoft hasn't published a rule that excludes them. The French SIREN case you found is a community report, not an official statement.
What validators check: the organization name and address must match public records, the website and domain must belong to the business, and the primary email must be a monitored address on that domain.

If you apply, give it the best chance:

Use the exact trade name and address from your KvK extract, and use a fresh extract issued within the last 12 months.
Make sure your website and domain registration show the same trade name. Keep the domain invoice ready, since it's an accepted document.
Use an email address on that domain as the primary email, and check it daily for the verification link (it expires after 7 days).
Submit one request only and wait the 1 to 20 business days. If it fails, the result tells you whether more documents would help.

Is your KvK registration under a trade name that matches your website domain?

If this helps you decide, please consider accepting it as the answer. If the validation comes back with a specific reason, let me know and I'll be happy to keep helping.

Reference:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/trusted-signing/quickstart