#3: What is meant by a wet, digital or electronic signature?Ī wet signature is a handwritten signature made by using a pen on hard copy paper. eSignature laws such as ESIGN and UETA in the USA, and EU Directive 1999/99/EC in Europe outlined the legal requirements of electronic signatures making them as valid as wet (handwritten) signatures on legal documents. The introduction of eSignature laws that gave legal weight to electronic signatures are what adds meaning to them. #2: How can eSignatures or digital signatures mean anything? This ensures that if anything changes in the contract, for example, someone changing a clause from 'I will pay $1000' to 'I will pay $100', the change in the file will record and be spotted.

When you electronically sign a digital document or upload PDF online, the signed PDF file needs to be tied to the electronic signatures itself.The certificate then becomes a digital version of you. In addition, digital certificates are issued by certificate authorities (CA) CA's check who you are when they issue the certificate. For example, in the ApproveMe eSignature platform, we use a digital certificate to prove that the person who will sign PDF document is who they say they are. To be fully lawful, there must be a method to verify that the inputted name belongs to the person it represents. Anyone can just type a name or attach a signature picture file on a form.Just typing a name on a form and clicking submit has several issues that prevent it from being upheld in a court of law as legal documents, these are: There are many international regulations regarding online signatures, such as ESIGN and UETA, that define what constitutes a legally binding eSignature on important documents. #1: Does typing your name on a form and clicking submit hold up as a legal signature?

Some of our most frequently asked questions are shown below. We often get questions about what digital signatures are and how to sign a PDF online.

How to create your signature digitally