Digital Signature for Professionals

A digital signature is an encrypted electronic signature that can guarantee the origin of an electronic document, its integrity, and its authenticity. When you manually sign a document, you confirm your agreement with the content in the text. A digital signature does the same thing and adds even more information. It guarantees the signature authenticity of the signature by proving that you are the person who signed; it ensures the document's integrity, meaning that it has not been modified since the signature; and it confirms the document's longevity, ensuring that it will remain valid for years to come.

Difference between a digital and an electronic signature :
An electronic signature consists of blocks of information that identify you. A digital signature is a form of electronic signature that is more secure because it is encrypted and can be invisible. It protects many elements of your documents.

Notarius digital signatures are used to sign official documents and meet the standards of many countries. However, each jurisdiction may have specific requirements that must be met in order to be recognized. For example, in France, many agencies will only recognize French certificate authorities. In the United States, requirements for authenticating engineering documents will mostly be limited to a technological baseline, but not specific to a provider or a standard. As such, Notarius digital signatures meet or exceed the minimum requirements for all US states (except Hawaii). It is important to verify local digital signature requirements with recipients prior to submitting signed documents that use Notarius digital signatures.

Of course, other considerations need to be evaluated before making a digital shift. Please feel free to reach out to Notarius for a working session on the subject for further discussion.

A signed document can be marked up but cannot be easily altered. If a digitally signed document were to be altered, the digital signature would be removed from the file, thus rendering the document a copy of the original. For example, in paper form, a wet signature original can be photocopied, thus creating a copy of the original and this copy can be easily modified and altered. The same is true for an original electronic PDF with a digital signature. It can be “reprinted” as a PDF and the new document then becomes a copy of the original. This copy can be altered but, for the recipient, it is a copy since the digital signature is no longer part of the PDF.

The complete process takes approximately 45 minutes, but it is usually stretched out over five business days. Once your identity has been verified, your digital signature request will be sent to the Affiliation Verification Agent (AVA) designated by your association or company where you are employed for approval. The approval process takes between 1 and 10 days.

The image of your seal is what is called an “electronic signature.” It is the visual representation of your identity; however, the legal reliability of this type of signature is very limited. A digital signature, on the other hand, is an electronic locking mechanism that protects your original PDF. The only way to modify the original content is to break this protective mechanism. However, once this mechanism has been broken, the modified copy is simply an altered copy since the original document must conserve this cryptographic protection in order to be considered as the original.

Most companies start with a pilot project to test out the solution with a few people over a two to three-month period. At that point, companies often present a profitability analysis report, obtain a budget and then proceed to plan the company-wide deployment. The full process takes between six months and one year, based on the company. Don’t get discouraged if things seem to be taking a long time; it’s normal and we expect the deployment to occur gradually.

In this case, paper format is required. You must seal the paper document and send it to the client. HOWEVER, most clients only require the paper format for documents that they would like to examine, while accepting original electronic documents and their paper copies. We can also help you answer your clients’ questions about the technology to reassure them.

No. This goes against our authentication standards and our certificate policies. Your right to use a digital signature may be revoked if you share your digital signature and password with someone else, including your colleagues, spouse and children. A third party may prepare your signature zone, but you are the only person who can use your digital signature.