Are SignHouse eSignatures legal and legally-binding? (Legality, Security)

eSignatures have been around for quite some time.

But not everyone knows the full situation around the legal aspects around eSignatures. 

The short of it is: eSignatures made with SignHouse are 100% legal, legally-binding and recognized in Courts of Law!

We've made it so that, within our app, you're able to see exactly, why+how we are compliant with eSignature laws all around the world:

As per the laws of eSignatures, SignHouse or the SignHouse eSignatures are:

• Uniquely linked to the signatory

• Capable of identifying the signatory

• Created using electronic signature creation data that the signatory can, with a high level of confidence, use under their sole control

• Linked to the data signed therewith in such a way that any subsequent change in the data is detectable

• Marking and saving the intent of sign of the signatory

• Providing an opt-out clause

• Capturing consent to do business electronically from the signatory

• Presenting clear signature attribution

• Presenting association of signature with the record

• Recording retention
  

• Creating an audit log that captures all signer actions

• Matching the latest eSignature laws and requirements

Here are some of the eSignature laws this document complies with:

• ESIGN (Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act), 2000UETA (Uniform Electronic Transactions Act), 1999
• eIDAS (Electronic IDentification, Authentication and trust Services) - EU Regulation 910/2014
• UK eIDAS, with the The Electronic Identification and Trust Services for Electronic
• Transactions (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019
• Illinois’ Electronic Signature Law 5 ILCS 175/1-101
• Electronic Signatures and Records Act (ESRA), 2000, New York
• Switzerland, Swiss Federal Act on Electronic Signatures (FAES)
• Switzerland, The Swiss Code of Obligations (CO)
• Canada, Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA)
• Canada, The Uniform Electronic Commerce Act (UECA)
• Canada, Alberta Electronic Transactions Act (2001) (“Alberta Act”)
• Canada, Ontario: Electronic Commerce Act (2000) (“Ontario Act”)
• Canada, British Columbia: Electronic Transactions Act (2001) (“BC Act”)
• India, Information Technology Agreement (ITA), now also known as ITA-1, 2000
• India, Indian Contract Act (ICA)
• India, Electronic Signature or Electronic Authentication Technique and Procedure Rules (ESEATPR)
• Brazil, Provisional Measure No. 2.200-2/2001 (“MP 2,200-2/2001”)
• South Africa, Electronic Communications and Transactions Act (ECTA), 2002
• Australia, Electronic Transactions Act 1999 (“ETA”)

Below we'll give more details and detail the standards under which we operate. We respect or are using service providers that respect the following acts, standards or protocols:

• GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) Compliance

• CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act) Compliance

• LGPD (Brazilian General Data Protection Law) Compliance
  

• CNIL (Commission Nationale Informatique & Libertés) Compliance
  

• PDPA (Personal Data Protection Act 2012) Compliance
  

• Secure Socket Layer (SSL) Certification
  

• Data service providers with SOC 2 Type II Certifications: (ISO 27001, SOC)
  

• Data service providers with SOC 2 Type III Certifications
  

• Data service providers with PCI-DSS Certifications
  

• Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) STAR Level 1 Certifications
  

• AICPA-CIMA: Trust Services Criteria for Security, Availability, Processing, Integrity, Confidentiality, and Privacy
  

• Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) connections
  

• 256-bit encryption for our connections
  

• AES-256 encryption at rest for payments: we collaborate with Stripe, which puts in place state-of-the-art security and privacy measures. Your card’s data (Card Number, Expiry Date, CVC and/OR CVV) is encrypted at rest and not stored by us.
  

• Stripe is as well at a PCI Service Provider Level 1. This is the most stringent level of certification available in the payments industry.
  

That being said:

✅ eSignatures are 100% legally-binding

✅ eSignatures with SignHouse hold weight in court

✅ We keep a digital trail (paper trail, but 100% online) of all the actions that take place over a document

✅ We take security and legality very seriously