E-signatures meet automation

An introduction to electronic signatures

An electronic signature, or e-signature, is the digital equivalent of a handwritten signature that indicates the acceptance of an agreement, contract, or other document. Electronic signature technology allows users to approve or certify documents without having to sign a physical piece of paper.

E-signatures are as legally binding as any other type of signature in many countries. They also allow you to avoid the hassle of passing paper documents from one person to the next. As a modern approach to the signing process, e-signatures are now used in all kinds of documents worldwide.

Types of electronic signatures

There are several ways to add signatures to digital documents, from scanning and uploading an image of a handwritten signature to using specific e-signature software. With services like Jotform Sign, users can securely sign documents with just one click.

There are four basic types of electronic signatures: click-to-sign, simple e-signatures (SESs), advanced e-signatures (AdESs), and qualified e-signatures (QESs). Each has its own advantages and use cases, so it’s important to know which situations they work best for.

• Click-to-sign
  Click-to-sign electronic signatures can be completed with just the click of a button. Typically, a user will create a signature that is stored for future use by a software platform, or the platform will generate a signature for them. Then, as the user moves through a document, they can click a button to insert their legally binding signature where needed.
• Simple electronic signatures
  Simple e-signatures (SESs) are the most widely used because they don’t involve any type of advanced identity verification and can be as basic as a name or initials typed in a document. They can be used on all kinds of documents, from internal employment agreements to attendance sheets to permission slips.
• Advanced electronic signatures
  Advanced e-signatures (AdESs), on the other hand, implement a higher level of identity verification, as they are usually transmitted through e-signature software that can provide an audit trail. They are certified by a certificate authority (CA), an entity that issues and stores unique digital certificates to confirm a person’s identity.
• Qualified electronic signatures
  A qualified electronic signature (QES) is the most secure form of electronic signature and meets the requirements outlined in the European Union’s electronic Identification, Authentication and Trust Services (eIDAS) regulation. This type of e-signature verifies the signer’s identity through a digital certificate. As an additional step, the signer’s identity is confirmed face-to-face — either online (via video) or in person.

The evolution of electronic signatures

While the general public has only become familiar with electronic signatures in the past 20 years, the technology has been developing for much longer than that. The concept of electronic signatures was first introduced in 1976 by American cryptologists Whitfield Diffie and Martin Hellman in a research paper titled “New Directions in Cryptography,” which presented forward-thinking ideas like public-key cryptography and digital signatures. Then, in 1977, Ronald Rivest, Adi Shamir, and Len Adleman invented a cryptosystem called the RSA algorithm that was the first technology to transmit a signature through an electronic message.

The first widely marketed software to offer digital signatures broke onto the scene in the late 1980s, followed by the first instance of embedding digital signatures into PDFs in 1999. In 2000, U.S. President Bill Clinton passed the Electronic Signature in Global and National Commerce (E-sign) Act, which made digital signatures legally binding.

In 2008, ISO 32000 made the PDF a standard electronic document format and included guidance on how digital signatures in PDFs can be used to verify a signer’s identity. Since then, PDFs have been the primary tool for signing documents online, and e-signature technology has taken hold around the globe.

Electronic signatures are extremely beneficial to businesses and individuals. Not only do electronic signatures dramatically cut down the time and effort involved in collecting signatures, but they also allow users to organize and keep track of signed documents more easily.

Here are just some of the many benefits of incorporating electronic signatures into your business processes.

Automation

Waiting for people to sign and forward documents to the correct parties can be a drag — not to mention that it wastes precious time you could be using to further develop your business. Electronic signature software makes document creation and signature collection a breeze because it automates the process of distributing, signing, tracking, and storing e-sign documents among multiple parties. Plus, with a platform like Jotform Sign, you can also collect payments, use templates, access 100-plus third-party integrations, and more.

Security

Electronic signatures are highly secure because they typically use digital certificates and encryption to verify the signer’s identity. While digital recordkeeping methods are generally reliable, they are still subject to risks like data breaches, identity theft, and fraud. That’s why there are a number of security standards and methods in place to protect users, such as eIDAS, the E-Sign Act, two-factor authentication (2FA), encryption, time-stamping, biometrics, and more.

Cost-effectiveness

The costs of paper and ink involved in collecting physical signatures add up over time — as do the number of employee hours it takes to manually distribute and track documents. By taking your signature collection process online, you’ll be saving time and money.

Flexibility

By automatically forwarding documents to signers online, you won’t need to find times to meet face-to-face. With Jotform Sign, your signers can sign your documents anytime, anywhere, on any device, which makes the whole process easier for everything. You can instantly send documents via email, link, or file-sharing services for the quickest possible turnaround.

Less environmental impact

Eliminating the need for materials like paper and ink doesn’t just save you money; it’s also a more energy-efficient alternative. When you need to collect signatures from around the world, your carbon footprint goes up dramatically with shipping and processing. Electronic signatures help your company lower its overall environmental impact by allowing signers to receive documents right in their email inbox.

Transparency

When working with a physical document, it can be difficult to know where it is in the signing process — or where it is at all. With an e-signature platform like Jotform Sign, you can track and manage your document status at any time, right from your account. Plus, you can create shared workspaces so your colleagues can track documents alongside you with Jotform Teams.