Electronic signatures (eSignatures) have become ubiquitous and widely accepted for business use in our modern digital age. While the acceptance of eSignature use is common, there are a plethora of use cases in which an eSignature must be verified with a higher level of compliance.
To meet these assurance demands, eSignature standards have been developed and adopted as trusted frameworks that accurately help regulate these digital procedures. The European electronic Identification, Authentication and trust Services (eIDAS) is a European Union regulation that has led the way for the verification of electronic transactions. Among the several different security layers that eIDAS has yielded, there are two that play a critical role to Filevine's eSignature assurance: Simple Electronic Signature (SES) and Advanced Electronic Signature (AES).
Simple Electronic Signature (SES)
SES is seen as the foundation for eSignature compliance, offering the simplest level of requirement to ensure the identity of an electronic signer. eIDAS describes and eSignature under SES as:
"Data in electronic form which is attached to or logically associated with other data in electronic form and which is used by the signatory to sign."
Advanced Electronic Signature (AES)
AES includes a stronger emphasis on verifying signer identification, which prevents the forgery of an electronic signature. In addition to uniquely identifying and connecting the signer, AES maintains a link to the signed data that will trigger notifications of changes, enabling a more dependable and truthful eSignature experience.
As part of this connection process, AES typically involves public-key infrastructure (PKI) technology to employ certificates and cryptographic keys for the security of the signature.
Qualified Electronic Signature (QES)
QES provides users with an advanced level of eSignature verification. This is possible because:
- The signature is executed by a certified signer
- The executed signature is based on a Qualified Signature Creation Device (QSCD)
By adding a stronger influence on certifying the people and technology parts of an eSignature process, QES affords the most compliant and regulated form of digital signature available. As such, a QES is considered to have nearly equal legal implicity as a traditional handwritten signature.
eSignature Regulation at Filevine
Filevine's electronic signature solutions meet electronic signature standards intended to protect our customer and ensure documents are legally binding and admissible in court.
To learn more about Filevine’s extensive security efforts, visit our website at https://www.filevine.com/security/