Digital Signature’s legality – Is a digital signature legally binding?

Secured Signing’s Legal Compliance

How Secured Signing Meets Global Electronic Signature Laws

Secured Signing’s digital signature service is engineered to exceed the rigorous requirements of global electronic transaction laws. Every document signed through our platform achieves legal validity and non-repudiation through the following four pillars:

1. Identifying the Signatory

Secured Signing issues a unique digital certificate for every User, Invitee, and Witness. During registration or the signing session, we capture essential metadata—including verified email addresses, IP addresses, timestamps, and physical locations—to ensure the signatory is identified at the moment of execution. This identity is cryptographically bound to the document and can be instantly verified using our Free Online Verification Service or standard PDF readers.

2. Signature is linked to the signatory

Unlike simple “electronic” signatures (which are often just an image of a squiggle), our Personalized PKI technology ensures every signature is uniquely linked to the specific signatory. By utilizing a private cryptographic key, we eliminate the risk of signature duplication or forgery.

3. Creating the signature is under sole control of the signatory

The signing process remains under the exclusive control of the intended party. Documents are delivered via secure, private links, and signatories must authenticate their identity, via email ownership, SMS two-factor authentication (2FA), or secure passwords; before they are granted access to execute the document.

4. Document Integrity (Tamper-Evidence)

Secured Signing’s trusted digital signature service is based on PKI technology that is considered to be the ONLY technology that ensures non-forgeable signatures. Once a signature is applied, the document is “sealed.” If even a single character or pixel is altered after the fact, the digital certificate will immediately show as Invalid, providing an unbreakable audit trail of data integrity.

Enhanced Security Features

Secured Signing provides a comprehensive suite of security layers:

• Bank-Grade Encryption: All documents are protected by high-level SSL/TLS encryption during transit and at rest.

• Cryptographic Timestamps: Each signature includes a secure local timestamp to prove exactly when the intent was captured.

• Legal Intent: Clear “Reason for Signing” fields establish the signatory’s purpose and consent.

• Comprehensive Audit Logs: A detailed “Full Signing Process” report tracks every action, from the initial invitation to the final execution.

• Secure Document Residency: Robust storage protocols ensure your sensitive data remains protected and accessible only to authorized parties.

Legally binding service

Digital signatures that use Personalised X509 PKI Digital Signature technology sustain signer authenticity, accountability, data integrity and non-repudiation of documents and transactions.

In 1999, the EU passed the “EU Directive for Electronic Signatures” and on June 30, 2000, President Clinton signed into law the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (“ESIGN”), which made signed electronic contracts and documents as legally binding as a paper-based contract.

In recent years, most countries worldwide have adopted legislation and regulations that recognise the legality of a digital signature and deem it to be a binding signature. Many of them have an Electronic Transactions Act in place.

These legislations create a uniform standard for all electronic transactions and encourage the use of electronic signatures, giving electronic signatures the same legal effect as pen-and-paper signatures.