Summary
Electronic Signature
- Electronic forms and delivery can be used for formal contracts is only half of the solution to online formal electronic contracting.
- Most formal contracts not only have requirements of form, they require adoption of the terms of the contract, usually through the addition of a signature or signature-equivalent.
- In electronic documents, there is no physical page or space where a handwritten signature can be applied. Therefore, we need inventive methods to replicate the security, authenticity, and trust of traditional signatures. This can mean creating digital structures like:
- Digital Signatures: Using cryptographic methods to validate the identity of the person signing and ensure the document has not been altered.
- Electronic Signatures: Adding a visual representation of a signature, sometimes along with metadata that can confirm its validity.
- Verification Systems: Including mechanisms such as timestamps, unique identifiers, or third-party verification (e.g., blockchain or certificate authorities) to prove that the document is authentic.