How Do I Validate Electronic signature Document

Note:The terms ‘electronic signature’ and ‘digital signature’ are often used interchangeably. However, the primary differences between ‘electronic signature’ and ‘digital signature’ are linked with signature laws and regulatory requirements.How do digital signatures work?The signature software leverages a public key algorithm to generate two keys that are mathematically linked: one private and one public. In order to create a digital signature, the software then creates a one-way hash of the electronic data to be signed.When a user signs a document online, he/she leverages the private key to create a signature. On a general basis, the private key remains under the sole control of the owner. This private key is used to encrypt the hash.The encrypted hash, along with other information, such as the hashing algorithm, together forms a digital signature.How digital signatures help validate integrityThe value of the hash is unique to the hashed data. Any change in the data, even by a single character, will result in a different value. This attribute enables users to validate the integrity of the data by leveraging the signer's public key to decrypt the hash.If the decrypted hash matches a second computed hash of the same data, it proves that the data hasn't changed since it was signed.If the two hashes don't match, then it is a clear indication of the fact that either:(i) the data has either been tampered with in some way (integrity) or(ii) the signature was created with a private key that doesn't correspond to the public key presented by the signer (authentication).

Click here for Digital SignatureThe terms Electronic Signatures and Digital Signatures are frequently misused and often thrown around loosely. Here at GlobalSign, we commonly speak with organizations confused by the two options and need help determining what type of signature they should adopt into their workflow.Let’s jump in and break down the differences.Electronic SignaturesAccording to the U.S. Federal ESIGN Act, Electronic Signatures are defined as: “Electronic sound, symbol, or process, attached to or logically associated with a contract or other record and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the record."Basically, an Electronic Signature is the equivalent of your hand written signature digitized and can be used to confirm content within a document, or the terms of a particular document.Digital SignaturesDigital Signatures on the other hand are quite different. To illustrate how, it's helpful to take a step back for a moment and look at the security concerns surrounding paper-based documents and workflows. The most common concerns individuals and organizations face when dealing with paper-based documents are... is the person who signed the document who they claim to be? How can I verify if the signature is valid and hasn’t been forged? How do I validate if the document hasn’t been tampered with?Luckily, the existence of notaries was invented and can be traced all the way back to the ancient Egypt times (according to the National Notary Association). Notaries today play a key role in assuring the parties of a transaction that the document is authentic and can be trusted.As you can suspect, the same problems exist in electronic document workflows. Unlike Electronic Signatures, Digital Signatures help solve this problem and are essentially the online equivalent to adding a signNowd signature. In the case of Digital Signatures, a trusted third party, known as a Certificate Authority (CA) serves as the notary in terms of verifying your identity.Certificate Authorities bind your identity to a PKI-based Digital Certificate which allows you to apply Digital Signatures to documents and cloud-based signing platforms.

I figure I inspected upwards of 200,000 passports and Annika Schauer's answer pretty much covers it. We were at different ends of the supply chain, and I almost certainly saw more fakes than she did, but I never saw a fake which got past her colleagues. If you look at your own passport in the ways described below (and it's a modern one) you should come to the conclusion that counterfeiting a passport is more difficult to do perfectly than counterfeiting currency.Pinch it, rub it, flip it, bend it, scratch it, give it a little sniff. These can be done with eyes close, so examine the person while doing these things: the person needs to match the document and they might be an imposter. The easiest way to catch a fake passport is to ask the holder questions in the language they're supposed to speak; whether it's a PRC on a Japanese passport or a Syrian on a Greek one, you're probably not going to have to go past the front cover if they can't answer a couple questions in the national language. Then the visual inspection. Look at the cover, look at the bio page, look at the internal pages, look at the visas. Examine the photo, the data, the printing, the paper, the holograms, the stamps, the watermarks, the reflective layers, the checkdigits, etc. To be really thorough, use a magnifying glass, a UV light, and a flashlight for watermarks and micro-embossing.Somewhere in there, give it to the computer to do its thing with the machine-readable data and RFID. The RFID wasn't implemented when I was on the job but, having read the technical documents, the chips are just about impossible to fake or circumvent. The era of having any reasonable hope of getting past immigration officers with bogus passports is just about over. With the RFID chips, I guess you could say that border guards do listen to passports... Experience, training, and familiarity are key to catching fake documents*, which means that the typical American college town nightclub bouncer is better at catching fake drivers licenses than most any border guard will ever be. Unless you are in a position where you will be exposed to a regular flow of documents, it's really hard to develop the skillset for identifying fakes.So, for the general public, I would suggest that you rely on identity documents as little as possible on the assumption that you won't catch fakes, mitigate your risk accordingly, and use authentication forms in which you really can be confident. In most commercial cases, you have a legal obligation to do the best you can but you don't really care whether the document is real. Mostly, you care that the person is the same one it was last time: a bank is much more concerned that someone not withdraw from another person's account than that the person opening the account is giving their "real" name. Whether membership cards, passwords, fingerprints, or 2FA tokens, the focus is more on authentication than identity.- - - - - - - - - - -* Below is an example of a document which looks good but has no legal authority. You will never find a fake WSA passport, nor will you find one which is a legal identity document.

I’m not a lawyer, so this isn’t legal advice, however due to diligent research I personally believe it is safe to say that yes, they are provided that the signer understand that they are signing the document and acknowledge that it is in fact them who is “signing” it. If the identity of the signer was in question, the document would need to be signNowd, which would not be able to be an electronic signature. It would be easy to assume that any electronic signature could therefore not be the person signing it. However, regular paper forms could also be signed by someone else other than the person who is supposed to be signing them, as well. It would have to be signNowd, which again, can only happen with regular paper, because the notary, when they signNow a document, they are identifying the signer as the person who is supposed to be signing it.But also, contracts do not have to be signNowd in order to be valid or enforceable, in which case, most documents signed online are practically contracts anyway.So basically, what I’m saying, is that although it seems that electronic signatures are not as legal or official, just remember that anything that can be done with a paper document can also be done with an electronic document (except be signNowd, it has to be paper, for that to happen).

I can’t speak for every vendor but here is a whitepaper on how signNow provides security for documents at rest and in motion: signNow’s Commitment to E-Signature Security

Although every state has passed laws that involve e-signatures, under the federal ESIGN Act, your electronic signature on a .pdf is just as valid as your physical signature. The ESIGN Act provides that a contract or signature “may not be denied legal effect, validity, or enforceability solely because it is in electronic form.” This simple statement means that electronic signatures and records are just as good as their paper equivalents, and therefore subject to the same legal scrutiny of authenticity and burden of proof standards that apply to paper documents. So unless your signature was forged, given under duress, or you refused to sign via electronic means (or there's some other reason to invalidate the contract), the executed .pdf copy may be enforced against you.

In a word: Yep!Thanks to the E-SIGN Act, documents signed electronically have the same legal protections as those signed with a physical pen! As long as your eSignature solution is committed to strong legality and your NDA is drafted by a professional, you absolutely can trust NDAs that are created, signed, and stored online.There are a few options out there. The rest of these examples are using signNow’s service. You can even create one now with a free signNow account.Here’s how to set up the NDA:Step 1: Acquire an NDA TemplateYou can find NDA templates online, but I would recommend seeking out a legal professional to create one that’s right for your needs.Step 2. Upload the Template, Add SignersAfter signing in to your signNow account, you’ll see the "Who needs to sign?" menu. For a confidentiality agreement, you’ll probably want to choose between “Me & others” or “Just others.” After selecting one, you’ll be able to drag and drop, choose “Add File,” or use any of our integrations to upload your non-disclosure agreement.Now you can add signers, loop in other parties via our CC feature, and assign a signer order if needed. Select “Prepare doc for signing” to move on to the really cool part!Step 3. Format the NDA and Fill in Your InformationWith the NDA you imported pulled up in front of you, click any of the fields across the top of the page and drag it to where you want to place it in the document. Most of the fields have advanced features and some even let you add a validation type (email address, numbers only, etc.) to help guide signers and reduce errors. Take some time to click around to get your NDA dialed in.Once you get your formatting just right, hit Continue at the top of the page. Back on the “Get your document signed” page, you’ll add a title, an optional message, and send your online NDA out for signatures!Step 4. Sign Your NDA Online (Legally and Securely!)If you’re one of the signers, a prompt to sign the non-disclosure agreement will hit your (and other signers’) email inbox as soon as you send it out for signatures. Just click the “Review & Sign” button in the email to continue.We provide a variety of ways to create your electronic signature:Draw your signature on a touch screen using your finger or a stylusUpload a photo of your signatureType in your signature and customize from a selection of fontTake a picture of your signature using your smartphone’s camerasignNow will automatically prompt each signer to complete all their required fields. Once you’ve filled out your portion of the NDA, all you have to do is agree to one last legality measure and your job is done!Step 5. Access Your Online NDA Any TimeTo check the status, edit, or even download a hard copy of your confidentiality agreement; just visit the Documents section of your signNow dashboard any time.

The easiest way is to just talk to your signNow rep.  signNow has close to 1,000 employees that are all trained in electronic signature processes.  There is also a professional services department who can go through and give you feedback.

Piggybacking on the other comment from Cliff: Keep in mind what a signature is for. It's to prove that you agreed to the contract. So if it's not likely that anyone would dispute your agreement to the deal, then a photo is not that risky. However, if you think its possible that someone would back out of a contract by saying they never agreed, having a photo signature might be risky because then they could say something like "I never even saw it--anyone could have pasted that there." That may not be a successful argument for that person to escape the contract. But it's an argument that they wouldn't necessarily have otherwise.