The term electronic signature covers the signatures from the simplest version to the complex versions. Electronic signatures are broadly valid throughout the industrialized world as the modern substitute for a written or “wet” signature. However, there are a few different ways to authenticate and identify your signers to meet the legal requirements in different countries.
eIDAS is a legal regulation that unified the laws of the EU member states, creating a single framework that applies throughout the EU. It became valid in 2016.
eIDAS divides eSignatures into three categories as follow:
Before explaining the difference between these three types of electronic signatures, let's look at where digital signatures stand.
As we mentioned above, the electronic signature is an umbrella term that also covers digital signatures. A digital signature always relies on crypto-based technology. This means that the document's content will always be locked and secured when placing a digital signature. You always have the guarantee that no one has changed the content of the document after signing. It is not always valid for electronic signatures.
In many countries, including the US, simple electronic signatures (SES) are accepted in primary cases.
Identity of the signer, authenticity, and any hardware is not compulsory for this type of electronic signatures. It can be a picture of your wet signatures and then copied on a document.
In advanced electronic signatures, signers must use digital certificates to verify their identity. The signers receive the document and sign as usual while applying the certificate in the senders' requested document. So that the signer's identity is checked through digital certificates but not guaranteed, it is known that the signature is undoubtedly linked to the signer. Furthermore, the security level can be supported by multi-factor authentication.
Government-authorized qualified trust service providers (QTSP) allow electronic signature to be qualified in order to:
To decide which type of electronic signature is right for you, take a look at the requirements in the law of your country for specific cases. Electronic signatures might have different validities in different countries.
Inspakt offers two types of electronic signatures. One is the simple electronic signature which you can sign the document without digital certificates. The other is the Digital Biometric Signature, which comes with a legally binding time stamp, secured digital certificates, and biometric data captured from the signer's signing behavior.
