What is ESign?

eSign, also written as ESignature or an electronic signature, lets you sign papers online, so you don’t have to print them out. It works like a signature or stamp on paper, but it’s digital and unique to each person or group. It’s safe and legally binding.

When the internet went global in the 1990s, e-signatures took off. However, there were a lot of legal issues and questions about whether an e-signature was as legally binding as a signature written in ink. Most people said yes, as long as the name could be verified. People who tried to get out of contracts by saying they weren’t valid were severely reprimanded.

Act on Electronic Signatures in International and National Business

In June 2000, the US Congress passed a federal law that made electronic signatures in interstate and international business more accessible. This law ensures that anything signed with an electronic signature is valid and legal.

The act ensured that contracts and deals couldn’t be thrown out just because they were signed online. It ensures that electronic signatures are just as legally binding as signatures on paper.

Can you trust digital signatures?

You might be wondering if digital signatures are always safe since the internet and other electronic forms of communication are often hacked. It’s hard to fake an ink signature, so what about e-signatures?

Well, they are checked by a third party that ensures the name sent is accurate and belongs to that person or group. A “hash function” scrambles the data inside a signature so only the recipient, who has the proper key to unlock it, can read it. This is done by encrypting the signature with a “public key.”

Methods for Verifying an E-signature

There are many ways to verify an ESign, the goal being to connect the signature to another way of finding out who someone is online.

• Confirmation of The Email Address

You can find out who someone is by their IP address linked to their email address. The person signing the paper has to click on a link in their email to prove that they are who they say they are before they can move on. This is a type of two-factor authentication.

• Checking with a text message

This is another two-factor security method that needs a cell phone. Someone who wants to sign the document gets a text message with a unique code they must put into the software. You have that person’s email address, IP address, and cell phone number if you use it, along with email proof. This is usually more than enough to identify them.

• Valid electronic signatures

Qualified electronic signatures are a little different from the first two methods. The law has carefully checked and approved these signatures, making them legally equivalent to a written signature. These are the safest of the three ways because you need a form of ID to apply for one of them.

ESign Software Pros and Cons

You can get different ESign software packages with different sets of features. But in general, the basic package has these sections: • ESignature requests; • Notifications when signatures are finished; • Templates; • User management; • Bulk signing options.

• Better authorization

How ESign Makes Managing Contracts Easier

One of the best things about e-signature software is that everyone can access papers because they are stored in the cloud. With this program, it’s easy to keep track of the contracts you’re in charge of.

Work together with clients.

It’s a pain to add terms to contracts, but it’s even worse to have to read through every detail of updated files sent back and forth to ensure they contain what you want. ESign’s cloud-based features store each document in a different location, so you don’t have to send different copies back and forth.

Signs can help you protect your business.

You can also keep track of changes to a document with ESign. Once the document has been changed, the signature is no longer valid. With ESign software, no more typos or bad people will try to take advantage of you and your business. You agree to precisely what is written when you sign.

Record contracts that haven’t been signed.

Notifications and contract management tools let you track what has been signed, what still needs to be signed, and how important each task is. You no longer have to sort through piles of paper because the software keeps track of everything for you, so you don’t have to worry about missing due dates.

ESign Synonyms

• ESignature
• e-Signature
• electronic signature
• digital signature (slightly different due to encryption, but the terms do overlap)