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Are Electronic Signatures Legally Binding?

Heather Mueller
November 26, 2019
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Min Read

Wondering if electronic signatures are legally binding?

The short answer is "absolutely."

The slightly longer explanation is that electronic signatures are just as legally valid as their pen-and-paper counterparts—and have been since 2000.

Yet despite the convenience of electronic signatures in the digital age, there’s still some confusion about how and when to collect them.

To help, we've pulled together a short brief on the latest laws regulating the use of electronic signatures.

No, the following information is not official legal advice. For expert guidance on legal matters, you’ll need to consult an attorney. However, if you’re just looking for some need-to-know basics on electronic signatures’ legal validity, these details will help get you up to speed quickly.

How to Capture and Store Electronic Signatures the Right Way

To recap, when collecting signatures electronically, you’ll need to establish intent, ensure consent, and keep detailed documentation.

There’s just one more element to consider, and it’s an important one:

When gathering signatures electronically, it's important to leverage the same security measures you use to protect other business data and documentation.

Just as you wouldn’t accept credit card payments without the proper procedures in place, you don’t want to risk exposing electronic signatures to prying eyes. This is especially important if you’re using online forms and automation tools to generate contracts, proposals, and other digital documents.

When looking for technology you can use to capture electronic signatures, be sure any tools you use encrypt communications with full AES 256-bit SSL security. This is the same technology used in banking transactions, and will help ensure your data, documentation, and electronic signatures are shared with authorized individuals only.

If you want to take this a step further, put a process in place to automatically maintain a thorough audit trail so you can securely access files should the validity of your electronic signatures ever come into question.

Yes, it’s a lot to consider. But once you have the right systems set up, capturing electronic signatures can make things a lot easier for employees and customers alike.

Looking for an easy way to capture electronic signatures? Formstack Sign has everything you need to collect signatures quickly, easily, and safely—all while ensuring they're legally valid.

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Heather Mueller
Heather is a website copywriter and digital content strategist who loves helping brands generate leads through the power of the written word—especially when using Formstack. Connect with Heather on Twitter @heathermueller.
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