Understanding the Legal Landscape of Electronic Signatures in the Tech Industry

As more organisations switch to using electronic signatures instead of traditional physical signatures, they must understand the legal landscape in which electronic signatures operate. The UK often takes a permissive approach to signatures; even simply typing a name at the end of a message may be legally binding.

However, the circumstances under which such a signature may be valid can differ. To understand how to ensure your electronic signatures meet legal standards and regulations in the UK, let’s examine the rules that govern electronic signatures.

What Constitutes an Electronic Signature in the UK?

According to the Law Commission of England (2019), to meet electronic signature legality, an electronic signature must meet any of the following requirements to be authentic:

• The individual signing the document intends to authenticate it.
• All formalities relating to its authentication are satisfied. This includes witnessing the document’s signing or that the signature is in a specific format.
• It is admissible as evidence in legal proceedings to prove the document’s authenticity.
• The circumstances surrounding the electronic signature’s authentication allow its validity to be proven under common law.

DocuSign and UK eIDAS Regulation

Currently, the UK eIDAS Regulation defines three levels of an electronic signature:

• Simple: A basic level of electronic signature that fits the requirements set out by the Law Commission of England.
• Advanced: An electronic signature with a higher level of security. It must be uniquely linked to the original signatory, capable of identifying the signatory, created using the signatory’s electronic signature creation data under the signatory’s control, and detecting any subsequent changes made to the document after signing.
• Qualified: An electronic signature created explicitly by a qualified electronic signature creation device and linked to a qualified electronic certificate. This type of signature has legal status in the UK and the EU.

Qualified Trust Service Providers (QTSPs) must recognise the electronic certificate to meet the last requirement. DocuSign is a QTSP that offers a variety of secure authentication methods designed to validate the identity and authenticity of signature holders. Such authentication methods can be used for various electronic signatures based on email, social media IDs, SMS, face verification software, etc.

What Types of Documents Can Be Signed Electronically?

The following types of documents are eligible to be electronically signed in the UK:

• Commercial contracts that govern business transactions between two or more parties.
• Employment contracts that set out terms and conditions between an employer and an employee.
• Corporate resolutions written by company representatives that detail major corporate decisions.
• NDAs (Non-Disclosure Agreements) protect confidential information between two or more parties.
• Consumer transactions detailing the sale and transfer of items or services between two parties.
• Software and content licensing protects the intellectual property rights of different products and works.
• Procurement documents detailing the acquisition of goods and services.

Other documents, such as wills and testaments, deeds and powers of attorney, government filings, and declarations of oath, do not always meet the eligibility criteria for electronic signatures. In such cases, further legal advice is required.