How Legal Are the Different Types of Signatures?

Topics around legality and signatures can be confusing. Add the growing popularity of electronic and digital signatures to the mix, and things can start to seem challenging. We’ll cover the fundamentals of legality in this article, along with an explanation of the types of signatures and their legal ramifications. We promise to keep it simple!

Now, let’s get started.

Why Is Legality Important When Signing a Document?

Contracts and legal documents differ from standard documents in that they affect the legal rights of a person or an entity, and they’re intended to be enforceable by law. If the agreement is broken, all parties are responsible for particular obligations, and they can rely on the law to uphold those obligations. But these conditions can only be enforced if the signatures on the documents can hold up as legally binding in court.

What Types of Signatures Exist?

There are various signatures, but the three most common ones are traditional wet signatures, electronic signatures, and digital signatures.

Wet signatures are the most common and are probably what you think about when someone mentions the word “signature.” These traditional signatures are produced when a person signs a physical document with a pen. This is usually unique to every person and is sometimes accompanied by a stamp on a paper document.

Electronic signatures encompass a variety of different types of signatures that are used on digital documents. This can be a reproduction of your signature on a phone or tablet—like when you sign for a delivery—typing your name on a document or even pasting an image of your signature. The key distinction here is that there is no digital signature certificate present with electronic signatures. Essentially, they’re just an image on a digital document.

Digital signatures are a specific type of secure electronic signature that can be authenticated and are very hard to forge. Through a cryptographic process, an algorithm generates a unique digital signature certificate or fingerprint for each signee that can’t be manipulated. This is issued by an official certification authority and can be validated with most PDF readers. It’s basically an image of your signature with a cryptographic process applying a stamp of authenticity. If the document is changed afterward, the seal is broken, and the signature is rendered invalid.

What Are the Legal Implications of These Signature Types?

Signing is an indication that the signees have read and agreed to the terms of the contract or legal document they’ve signed—they are now liable and bound by the conditions of the contract.

Do digital and electronic signatures have legal force and effect? In brief, yes. Electronic and digital signatures are acceptable in court, just like wet signatures are. However, different countries and legal governing bodies have their own regulations and conditions, so it’s essential to check in with your local laws.

What Legal & Security Features Come With Smallpdf’s eSign Tool?

At Smallpdf, we take your data concerns and security very seriously. Smallpdf is ISO/IEC 27001 certified and GDPR compliant. We use advanced TLS encryption for all documents and files that are processed on our sites and apps. You can check out our Privacy Policy page for further details.

The above applies to all Smallpdf services, but with eSign, we’ve gone a step further with regard to security and safety features. Smallpdf eSign is eIDAS compliant. Moreover, we provide digital signatures with Long-Term Validation ( LTV) timestamping, which reflects the date and time the signature was added to the document. Embedded information such as the signee’s name and the validity of their signature and identity is also available.

So there you have it. Looking back, it’s not as complicated as it sounds, right? If you’re interested in digital signing software, then make sure to check out Smallpdf eSign. You can also sign up for a 7-day free trial to access all Pro features, including digital signing, LTV timestamping, and timeline activity management.