Anybody involved in a commercial transaction, whether as a business or individual, needs to be able to trust the means used to undertake that activity. In a world where commerce is increasingly moving online, such trust can be enhanced by the use of e-signatures.
What Are E-Signatures?
E-signatures come in many different forms, including:
- Typewritten or scanned signatures;
- Electronic representations of handwritten signatures (for example, using a stylus to sign a touchscreen);
- Clicking a tick box to make a declaration;
- Providing a digital representation of a unique characteristic, such as a fingerprint or retina scan; and
- Using public key cryptography, whereby a party can use a private software key to encrypt a document. The counterparty can decrypt the information using a public software key in order to confirm the authenticity of the signature.
How Does the Law Deal with E-Signatures?
E-signatures can be used to validly execute legal documents. They can be divided into three groups:
Simple – These include scanned signatures and tick boxes;
Advanced – Signatures which are:
- Uniquely linked to the signatory;
- Capable of identifying the signatory;
- Created using e-signature creation data under the signatory’s sole control; and
- Linked to data within the signature which can detect any changes made.
Qualified – Signatures which meet the ’advanced’ criteria and are created by a qualified device, based on a qualified certificate issued by a trust service provider.
Which Type of Signature Should be Used?
Higher value transactions will usually require a greater level of security and a ’qualified’ signature may be most appropriate. Using a qualified trust service provider can also offer other advantages, such as electronic time stamping, electronic seals and website authentication.
However, using a ’simple’ or ’advanced’ signature remains a valid method of execution and can offer a high degree of flexibility in comparison with a traditional ’wet ink’ signature.
Care should always be taken when executing any legal document, but advances in recent years mean that technology can indeed now be trusted.