Qualified Electronic Signatures for Lawyers

Law Society of Scotland

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Qualified Electronic Signature

The golden standard for lawyers

Digidentity’s Qualified Electronic Signatures enables individuals worldwide to sign and share documents, with the highest level of trust.

Digidentity’s Qualified Electronic Signatures (QES) makes it easy and secure to sign documents digitally. A QES is the most secure type of digital signature since it requires the signatory’s identity be verified by a Qualified Trust Service Provider.

Our digital signatures are cryptographically protected which guarantees the authenticity of the document. This means that a document cannot be edited after is has been signed, and protects against fraud and forgery.

QES has the legal equivalence of a hand-written signature under UK and EU law, and is recognised across borders. Digidentity offers a unique, remote onboarding that allows users to verify their identity within minutes without leaving their desk. No paperwork or in-person verification is required. A user can sign documents digitally anywhere via their mobile, tablet or computer.

We work together with the Dutch and UK governments as well as the Cloud Signature Consortium, among others. We are fully integrated into Docusign and Adobe Acrobat Sign, and are listed on the Adobe Approved Trust List (AATL) as well as the European Trusted List (EUTL). Digidentity is a Qualified Trust Service provider and Identity Provider in accordance with EU Regulation 910/2014 (eIDAS).

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The Role of Qualified Trust Service Providers (QTSPs) in Scottish Retail Banking Practice

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eSignature+ Qualified (QES)

Unlimited Qualified Electronic Signatures (QES) for secure and legally binding signatures

€41,00

Per year excl. VAT

eSignature+ Qualified

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Advantages of QES

Legal status & cross-border recognition

When there are legal inconsistencies in cross-border transactions, QES has legal advantages over electronic signatures and Advanced Electronic Signatures (AdES). QES has the highest level of admissibility in court proceedings and has the same legal standing as a handwritten signature, according to Article 25 of eIDAS/UK eIDAS. In addition, a QES that is based on a qualified certificate granted in one EU member state is legally recognized as a QES throughout the entire EU as well as in the UK.

More robust identity verification

More assurance is provided by QES regarding the legitimacy of the document. This is because a qualified trust service provider (QTSP) like Digidentity, whose operations are strictly regulated/audited under eIDAS/UK eIDAS, verifies the signatory's identity. The QTSP issues a qualified certificate to authenticate that the signatory is who they claim to be. The qualified certificate can be used by the recipient of a digitally signed document to verify that the signatory is who they say they are.

Encryption

The integrity of every document signed electronically using Adobe Sign is certified by a tamper-evident seal. However, QES guarantees even higher integrity since cryptographic signatures, which are generated and verified by the key pair, directly safeguard the integrity. If someone has tried to tamper with or edit the document, the public cryptographic key cannot validate the QES using Adobe Acrobat or Reader.

Cloud-based digital signatures

Prior to the development of cloud computing, a signatory would create their QES using a private key and qualified certificate kept on a smartcard or USB token. These devices were PIN-protected and connected to a desktop computer. A face-to-face meeting with the QTSP was required to obtain a qualified certificate. A signatory can now quickly obtain a qualified certificate and use their QES to sign documents via a web browser or mobile application thanks to the cloud and PKI technologies.

Simple workflow

The process for using QES is substantially the same as the process for using electronic signatures. The signatory must also authenticate themselves to the QTSP in order to acquire their qualified certificate for signing, which is the only significant distinction. However, Digidentity has the advantage of a fully remote onboarding that allows users to verify their identity within minutes.

Conflict of laws

In the EU, UK, and many other third countries, QES has the same legal standing as handwritten signatures. It benefits lawyers since it alleviates the stress of dealing with a conflict of laws. We cannot guarantee that QES will be enforceable and valid in all jurisdictions where our clients may conduct business. But what we can say is that it is more likely that cross-border transaction documents will be legitimate and enforceable in pertinent jurisdictions due to QES's improved legal standing.

Proud partner of Docusign and Adobe

Digidentity has partnered with Adobe and Docusign to bring trusted electronic signatures to millions of users worldwide. We enabled individuals worldwide to use electronic signatures when and wherever they needed.

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