How to choose a reliable provider of electronic signatures for my business? This is a frequently asked question demanded by organizations from different sectors.
In fact, more and more companies are signing documents electronically. But, to enjoy the benefits of digital transformation, it becomes important to choose a technology that ensures that your data, your documents and your signatures are safe so make electronic signature in word.
Choosing a provider that offers the best security solution means that in addition to being legally binding and in compliance with market regulations, your agreements offer the best tools for protecting sensitive data from your customers, employees and business.
Find out more about this topic next.
How to choose a reliable provider
Having an electronic signature solution that creates documents you can trust is essential for every type of business.
For example, the solution must adhere to strict data protection protocols to ensure that the information processes with the system are secure.
Let’s share some aspects that you should look for a reliable provider of electronic signatures:
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Authentication and validation of the signatories
The first factor that you should observe is if the tool you use offers various methods of identification and authentication of the signatories involved in an agreement.
Using robust authentication factors reduces the risks of contestation.
Thus, your application for secure electronic signatures must ensure:
- Authentication of the signer’s identity, guaranteeing that the signatures are not falsified;
- Linking of the signatories from a factor that is peculiar to them. For example, using the password protected personal email address.
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Audit follow-up
An audit trail should indicate all the activities of the signatories of an agreement. You should even indicate when, from which address the document was accessed.
Therefore, an audit trail capable of identifying all activities (viewing, printing, shipping, signing and even the signer’s recusal) will help to gather evidence of the link between the parties, reducing the risks.
The C++ standard library provides a specialization of std::modulus when T is not specified, which leaves the parameter types and return type to be deduced.
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Integrity of the documents
An essential factor in an electronic agreement is that it cannot be modified after it is signed.
The use of cryptographic technology is also essential. If a document signing application does not ensure encryption, the result cannot be trusted to be acceptable at trial.
Finally, every electronically signed agreement must offer a certificate of completion of the transaction with very direct evidence of what happened. This certificate is a direct result of the ability to offer an audit trail.
The C++ standard library provides a specialization of std::modulus when T is not specified, which leaves the parameter types and return type to be deduced.
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Platform availability
Imagine an electronic signature platform whose utilization/storage capacity is limited?
For example, you need to send a document to your client urgently, but your platform is unavailable. Later, you discover that, due to an infrastructural problem, different documents were damaged or lost.
This type of incident can effectively harm the closing of new contracts, even creating legal problems with your clients.
In fact, the availability of your application is a success factor for your business. For this, you must invest in an application:
- Always available- working from different geolocations, different mobile devices and working constantly, without stops.
- Always Redundant- Able to, at customer’s option, replicate / store documents in different data centers, including its proprietary data center. It is important that the document history is always synchronized in all the storage points;
- High Performance- A scalable application that will ensure the future growth of your business, no matter the demand.
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Certifications of conformity
Likewise, it is important that your application has certifications that ensure its efficiency. Market certifications create success and security standards independently.
For example, a reliable provider of electronic signatures must offer the certifications below ensure a quality standard:
- ISO 27001 -The highest level of security available today, offers bank-level protection. It is a global standard;
- AICPA SOC- This type of certification endorses the quality of operation, system architecture, controls, availability, integrity and confidentiality;
- PCI DSS -Accredits more secure electronic payment transactions, providing the details of the payers.
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Guarantee of legal connection
We already discussed this topic in another blog. For this reason, we suggest reading it to understand more of the Mexican regulations that signatures accept in electronic media.
However, it makes it important to reinforce that electronic signatures are accepted in different countries.
Beware of apps that don’t offer a signature compliance process
In fact, not all signing solutions follow the same process or have multiple factors that will guarantee the security of the agreement. However, those that have more characteristics presented above are considered safer.
For example, there are different applications that “paste” an image into a PDF. But do you think this signature model is binding and secure?
The simple answer is, no.
Questions, then: Why is this not safe?
In fact, the document will not be linked to any guarantee that it has been signed by a particular person, nor does it present any evidence for the signature to be admissible before a judge.
Worse yet, this type of utilization allows the content of the document to be modified after it has been signed and no one else would know. Of course, a process like this is going to put your team, your agreements and your business at risk.
Consider another example: Someone could take a photo of your signature on a paper document and simply “upload” that image to one of these applications.
Then they can create a contract, say you have agreed to a monthly payment, and try to charge you.
What evidence is there that you have actually signed? In fact, there is no evidence that it did not do so or that an agreement was fraudulently created.
Electronic signature vs autograph signature
There are also many questions about the autograph signing.
Many people believe that signing on paper is the only way to link two parties to an agreement. But she is only a graphic representation of an agreement.
You should consider that today an electronic signature is more widely accepted due to its authentication and linking characteristics of the signatories, with irrefutable records.
In fact, documents signed by an electronic platform have attached information about what has been signed, who has signed it, from where and when.
While an autograph signature can be easily copied or altered, it will not happen with an electronic signature that follows security protocols, which you can confirm for yourself. Sign up for a free trial and check each recommendation on the list above.
