Electronic Signature Licitness for Legal Services in United States

How to eSign a document: electronic signature licitness for Legal Services in United States

hello i'm carla vazquez i'm the founder and ceo of legal innovation legal innovation is a legal tech firm empowering a new way to provide legal services we combine innovation talent with legal knowledge and experience to help startups and corporates to increase their value through digital transformation we are working with clients to redefine and implement systems and process to respond to the new realities of business today i want to share with you some thoughts about identity and electronic signature and how these legal technical instruments can help you to mitigate the impact of coping 19 and also maximize your operation efficiency considering the ongoing kobe 19 pandemic businesses are experienced unprecedented logistical and to no challenges the kobit 19 experience has changed our mindsets on the future of work across all layers of society from students to workers from doctors to patients from citizens to government officials this disruption caused the need to implement global and local transactions in electronic means as well as corporate functionalities fulfill with regulatory deadlines and also continue any legal process with this changing way of conducting operations the enforceability of electronic signatures and digital identification have any specific interest and it was almost natural to ask about the technical and legal instruments available to continue operating without losing certainty and legal security in the process digital identity when we talk about identity we refer to the combination of attributes that make a person unique in a given context the most relevant attributes in this context include biographic data for example name gender age address and in some cases biometric app a facial image fingerprints iris scans identity systems in any id system the process of establishing a person's identity and then using this identity in later transactions involves multiple stages often referred to as the identity life cycle the life cycle is essential to create trust in the celebration of electronics transactions the life cycle may be completed by a single actor for example an ideal authority or maybe a split between multiple public or sector or private sector actors for example different registration authorities versus credential and authentication providers the world bank established four basic stages of id system registration issuance use and management registration the life cycle begins when an individual first registers their identity which involves two main processes collecting data and proving that collecting data refers when a person captures the attributes such as biographic data the name the word gender address email also could be biometric filters fingerprints face image in some cases could be also time and location data additional the id system will ask for supporting documentation or evidence regarding dao dat proofing data this involves checking the validity authenticity and accuracy of the supporting documents or evidence provided and confirming that identity data is valid current and related to a real life person in some cases identity proofing also includes a process to verify that the applicant is the true owner of the claim identity and evidence for example biometric verification or a visual comparation of the physical person to a photo on a previously used id card issuance after registration the identity provider issued one or more credentials the type of credentials have an important implication for the robustnesses of the system to identify fraud as well as accessibility authentication once a person has been registered and its credentials have been created they can authenticate or prove their identity when needed to access associate benefits or services in a return system the authentication process can involve one or multiple factors authentication factors fall into one of three categories including something you have a physical card model device or digital cryptographic key something you know password our answer to a secret question and finally something you are your fingerprint or another geometry using multiple factors increases the level of assurance in a transaction authorization once a person has been authenticated the id system will establish if a person is authorized to do something to access to specific information or transaction or perform some certain activities or actions in the system and finally management these include updating and reproofing identity attributes that change over time for example address marital status professional facial image as well as updating revoking credentials management include identity records that may be retired if it is discovered that they were fraudulently created after security breaches or following an individual death the technology and protocols used throughout the life cycle including registration credential insurance authentication and management are critical for ensuring just awareness of the system and its ability to fascilated authentication for different types of transactions at the appropriate level of assurance electronic signatures almost all countries allow electronic signatures and electronic records to have the same legal effect as physical signatures and physical records and ensure that will not be embedded solely because it is an electronic form so what is an electronic signature an electronic signal is a series of data attached to an electronic message however a digital signature has multiple levels of trust if we follow ada's legal framework electronic signatures can be divided in three types basic or simple electronic signatures advanced electronic signatures and qualified electronic signatures each of these signatures have a degree of verifying designer's identity to a certain extent as basic or simple electronic signature is usually more used in a lower value process because there is no foolproof way to confirm the identity of the signer the advanced electronic signature is one of the three most widespread types of signatures the advanced electronic signatures offers a higher level of security than the simple electronic signature and achieves the perfect balance between security and usability an advanced electronic signal to follow the next requirements uniquely linked to the cymatory capable of identifying the signatory created in a way that ensures the signatory can maintain soul control linking to the data it related to in such a manner that any subsequent change to the data is detectable the main difference with a simple electronic signature is the identification of the signatory person in the advanced electronic signature it is an indispensable requirement the signer identification this is a key factor for contract signing where law requires a higher security criteria for these type of risks of operations in addition to the obligation to comply with money laundering regulations now a qualified electronic signature share all the filters and uses of that bandwidth the key point is the creation of the sign a qualified electronic signature device is used for its creation a specific regulation hardware is required to make the signature qualified trust services therefore provide higher legal certainty and higher security of electronics transactions despite being the signature with the most strong technical and legal framework it has never been used in a massive way because it is lack of usability due to this need for requirements the use of qualified electronic signature is mainly reserved for procedures and application with public administrations the big question is what type of electronic signature should i use analyze your use case there isn't a one-size-fits-all does usability prevail or it's the level of trust more relevant to your use case based on the nature of your use case you will have to look into other relevant factors for example the transaction go burning law what kind of technical requirements do you need impact assessment of the legal effect you need to protect and prove in case of an enforcement the subject matter of the transaction remember there are certain types of agreements that require a wet ink signature and hardcopy record for this reason are excluded for being in electronic form for example negotiational instruments wales and testamentary trust some types of powers of attorney document documents relating to adoption divorce and other family matters court orders then if we are analyzing a provider a software electronic signature we need to know the legal and technical information about the creation of the electronic signature the regulations with which electronic signature softwares must comply vary based on the geographical jurisdiction of your business implementation confirm that electronic signatures are and records are permitted under the law governing the use case all parties have to agree to the use of electronic signature analyze the type of document if is not one that requires a wet ink or physical signature remember if a party is a legal entity verified that the bylaws do not restrict the use of electronic signature or it may be required a bold resolution to authorize such as depending on your use case or industry federal and state regulation may impose additional requirements beyond those of general laws regarding eSignatures and digital transactions thank you and please feel free to contact me if you have any question or comments have a nice day