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I don’t know why, but the technology industry loves to use acronyms and words
that seem to either overlap with other similar words, or that are a slight variation
on a word, but with widely different meanings. This is the case in the world of
digitized signatures too. The terms, ‘electronic signature’ and ‘digital signature’ are
often used interchangeably, but they are in fact different beasts all together. I’ll
explain why below.
What is an electronic signature?
An electronic signature is a way of representing your signature on a computerized
document, for example a delivery slip. The term ‘electronic signature’ can refer to
several different methods of capturing a signature on a document or device. This
includes methods such as using a tablet or mobile app to capture an image of a
handwritten signature. It can also be simply typing your name into a signature box. An
example of a commonly created electronic signature is when you sign for a delivery on
the courier’s digital device.
What is a digital signature?
A digital signature is much more than an electronic signature.
Digital signatures become intrinsically linked to the content of the digital document
using encryption.
Anyone digitally signing a document needs a digital certificate; the certificate being
unique to that individual. The certificate contains a public and a private key – known as a
‘key pair’. Digital signature software works by performing these steps:
1. The software creates a ‘hash’ of the document content. Hashes are representations
of the whole content, including images.
2. The signatories certificate is then used to encrypt the hash. This combination of
hashing and encryption creates an intrinsic connection between the document and the
signatory; digital signing in this way, ties the two together.
3. The document hash is checked using the public key of the certificate to make sure it
can be decrypted. It can only be decrypted if the user’s public key matches the private
key used to encrypt the document.
4. When the signature is checked using the digital signing software, the original
document is hashed again and both the original and signed hash are crosschecked. If
there’s a difference between them, then the signature is invalidated.
Because a digital signature is effectively, ‘wrapped up’ in the content of the
document, it means that if anyone tries to change anything about that document
content, the signature will also change. It effectively invalidates the signature and
indicates that the document has been tampered with.
What’s the difference between a digital signature and an electronic signature?
The table below shows a quick, at-a-glance view of some of the key differences
between digital signatures and electronic signatures:
Digital Signature
•Digital signatures are like a lock on a document. If the document changes after the
signature is applied, it will show up as an invalidated signature.
•Digital signatures are very secure. Hashes cannot be easily undone and encryption
using a digital certificate is highly secure.
•A digital signature is hard to deny. This is also known as non-repudiation. A digital
signature is associated with an individual’s private key of a digital certificate. This
identifies them as being the signatory, as it is unique.
•Digital signatures are nearly always time stamped. This is very useful in a court of law to
tie a person to a signature at a specific day and time.
•Digital signatures can hold logs of events, showing when each signature was applied. In
advanced digital signature products like ApproveMe, this audit trail can even send out
alerts if the log is tampered with.
•The digital certificates representing the individual signatories give details of the person
signing the document, such as full name, email address and company name – they are
tied to the document signature through the certificate.
Electronic Signature
•Electronic signatures are open to tampering.
•Electronic signature’s are not based on standards and tend to use proprietary methods
so are intrinsically less secure.
•Electronic signatures are much harder to verify.
•Electronic signatures can have a time and date associated with the signature but it is
held separate to the signature itself so is open to abuse.
•Audit logs are not easily applied to electronic signatures.
•If details of the person placing an electronic signature on a device or document are
required, they have to be placed separately to the signature and are not held with the
signature itself, therefore are more open to abuse.
What are digital signatures used for?
For these reasons, digital signatures hold up in a court of law far better than electronic
signatures. It is much easier to prove who signed the document, when they signed and
that their credentials were valid at the time of signing.
One of the really neat things about digital signatures is that they become an intrinsic
part of a document lifecycle. So you can imagine that a legal document, like a contract,
really benefits from utilizing digital signatures. You can create the contract, share it,
agree it, add multiple signatories to it to finalize it and it will all be audited. You know,
once it is signed, that it is set in stone. Any changes will show up in an invalidated
signature and audit trail.
In a world of electronic documents, a digital signature is the natural way to sign, seal and
deliver on a promise.
ApproveMe’s WP E-Signature utilizes propriary digital signature technology to ensure
that documents, contracts and legal agreements that are signed on your WordPress
website adhere to the strictest esign laws and regulations.
To read more about the digital signature security you can visit this helpful article
about WP eSignature security.
Or if you would like to use your WordPress powered website to create, send, and
receive digital signatures on your documents and contracts you can learn more about
WP E-Signature at www.approveme.com
Article Resource: https://www.approveme.com/e-signature/difference-betweendigital-signature-and-electronic-signature/