Signatures have been a part of human identity for thousands of years. From Sumerian clay tablets to the Phoenician alphabet to Times New Roman on your Mac or PC, we use signatures every day to sign important documents. But did you know that it wasn’t until the State of Frauds act passed in the English Parliament in 1677 that made the signature the everyday marker it is today. By the time John Hancock signed the declaration of independence the signature was used as a binding contract around the world.Fast forward to more modern times, the invention of the fax meant more contracts were being scanned and sent electronically which meant more signatures than ever. In 2000, the E-Sign Act was signed into law validating electronic contracts and paving the way for eSignature technologies in businesses around the world.E-Signatures, once a luxury business expense, are now widely used around the world, but their counterpart, digital signatures, hasn’t received as much attention. Why? Because most are unaware of the differences. In this article, we’ll explain the differences between e-signatures and digital signatures.
Electronic Signatures
An electronic signature, or e-signature, is a legal concept, equivalent to a paper signature. According to The Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (E-Sign Act), an electronic signature is “means an electronic sound, symbol, or process, attached to or logically associated with a contract or other record and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the record.
Digital Signatures
A digital signature is a numeric value that is represented with a sequence of characters. The digital signature is a computer-generated complex math problem. It is the encryption/decryption technology behind electronic signatures applications. Applications like or Adobe Sign use digital signature technology to enable encryption on documents that are signed using their applications.
