Loading...
Electronic signatures are legally recognized in the United States. The Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (ESIGN) generally provides that a signature or contract may not be denied legal effect solely because it is electronic.
Additional country-specific guidance will be added as AcadiaSign's legal coverage expands.
Experience secure, legally-binding electronic signatures today.
Sign up for freeThe United States recognizes electronic records and electronic signatures under federal law and, where adopted, state electronic-transactions laws.
Under ESIGN, an electronic signature or contract generally cannot be denied legal effect, validity, or enforceability solely because it is in electronic form. UETA similarly provides a framework for electronic records and signatures in states that have adopted it.
Legal enforceability, however, depends on more than the electronic form of a signature. The transaction may need to demonstrate factors such as the signer's intent to sign, attribution of the signature to the signer, association between the signature and the record being signed, access to the electronic record, and preservation of the record's integrity.
AcadiaSign provides controls designed to support these areas of an electronic signature transaction.
ESIGN and UETA recognize electronic signatures broadly as electronic processes, symbols, or other forms of electronic action that are associated with a record and adopted or executed with the intent to sign.
AcadiaSign provides an electronic-signature experience in which a recipient reviews a document and electronically applies a signature or other assigned responses.
AcadiaSign also provides supporting transaction controls, including electronic-signature consent, recipient verification via OTP, audit trails, document-version tracking, SHA-256 integrity checks, and completion evidence.
An AcadiaSign electronic signature should not be represented as a certificate-based qualified digital signature or as an eIDAS Qualified Electronic Signature.
Before entering the signing experience, AcadiaSign presents an electronic-signature consent step. The signer actively selects a checkbox before continuing and is informed that they will review and sign electronically and receive and retain an electronic copy.
AcadiaSign records the consent against the specific recipient and envelope. The record can include the recipient and envelope identifiers, consent timestamp, available IP address, browser information, and language setting.
This provides evidence that the signer affirmatively chose to proceed with the electronic-signature process.
AcadiaSign uses several controls to help associate signing activity with the intended recipient. These controls include:
These controls help establish an association between the recipient and signing activity. They should not be treated as conclusive identity proof for every transaction or risk level.
AcadiaSign maintains relationships between envelopes, recipients, documents, document versions, fields, and signing activity.
This creates evidence of which recipient acted on which document and which assigned fields were completed during the transaction.
AcadiaSign uses SHA-256 checksums to create a cryptographic fingerprint for document versions.
The platform tracks separate artifacts for:
If the bytes of a protected document change, the recalculated SHA-256 checksum should no longer match the trusted checksum stored for that version.
AcadiaSign records activity throughout the envelope and recipient lifecycle. Events may include:
Depending on the event, records may include timestamps, recipient or user information, IP address, browser information, and event-specific metadata. These records help establish who acted, what happened, and when the activity occurred.
AcadiaSign performs integrity checks at important workflow boundaries. The system can retrieve a stored document, calculate its SHA-256 checksum, and compare it with the trusted checksum for that document version.
When the checksum does not match, AcadiaSign can block the protected action and record a tamper-detection event. This provides a tamper-evident mechanism for detecting unauthorized changes to protected document bytes.
When an envelope is completed, AcadiaSign generates a Certificate of Completion containing transaction evidence such as envelope information, sender and recipient information, completion time, document and recipient counts, recipient statuses, signing events, available timestamps, and envelope lifecycle milestones.
The completion certificate is maintained as a separate record and can receive its own SHA-256 checksum and timestamp evidence where available.
Where configured, AcadiaSign can request and preserve timestamp responses using the RFC 3161 Time-Stamp Protocol. The timestamp request contains the SHA-256 message imprint rather than the PDF content. AcadiaSign can preserve the returned response, provider information, request details, response checksum, and related evidence.
Timestamp evidence depends on the configured timestamp provider and its successful response. AcadiaSign does not claim that every returned timestamp response is a validated or qualified timestamp.
AcadiaSign provides an electronic-signature workflow for documents and transactions where electronic signatures are legally permitted and appropriate.
Whether a particular document can be signed electronically depends on the applicable federal and state law, transaction type, document requirements, parties involved, and any applicable exclusions or additional requirements.
Organizations should obtain legal advice when determining whether a particular document or transaction is suitable for electronic signature.
Some transactions or documents may require additional legal or procedural requirements, such as:
AcadiaSign's electronic-signature workflow does not eliminate these transaction-specific requirements. Organizations remain responsible for determining the legal requirements applicable to their documents, transactions, and jurisdictions.
AcadiaSign includes an archival routine for completed transactions. Where the required Amazon S3 configuration is available, eligible completed records can be retained using Amazon S3 Object Lock in COMPLIANCE mode with the current application retention configuration of seven years.
The seven-year configuration is an AcadiaSign application policy and should not be interpreted as a universal legal retention period. Organizations should determine appropriate retention periods based on applicable law, document type, contractual obligations, litigation requirements, and operational policies.
AcadiaSign's electronic-signature workflow combines electronic signature capture with transaction evidence and cryptographic document-integrity controls.
Electronic signatures are legally recognized in the United States, and laws such as ESIGN and UETA generally prevent an electronic signature from being denied legal effect solely because it is electronic. However, whether a particular agreement is enforceable depends on factors including signer intent, attribution, consent, the agreement's terms, applicable exclusions, evidence, and governing law.
AcadiaSign provides an electronic-signature experience in which a person reviews a document and electronically applies a signature or other assigned responses. AcadiaSign also uses cryptographic integrity controls, including SHA-256 checksums and optional timestamp-response evidence. These controls do not automatically make the signer's mark a certificate-based qualified digital signature.
AcadiaSign can use recipient-specific access links, email OTP verification, and Microsoft Entra ID verification for eligible internal signers. These controls help associate signing activity with the intended recipient, but stronger identity proofing may be appropriate for higher-risk transactions.
AcadiaSign calculates SHA-256 checksums for document versions and verifies stored files at important workflow boundaries. If a checksum does not match the trusted value, the protected action can be blocked and a tamper-detection event can be recorded.
Yes. AcadiaSign records relevant envelope and recipient events throughout the transaction, including signing, verification, consent, completion, corrections, and other workflow activity.
Not necessarily. Timestamp evidence depends on the timestamp providers configured for the AcadiaSign deployment and whether they return a response. SHA-256 document tracking and internal integrity verification can operate without timestamp attachments.
AcadiaSign's current archival routine can request seven-year S3 Object Lock retention for eligible completed transaction artifacts when the required configuration is available. The appropriate retention period may differ based on the organization's legal and operational requirements.
The information on this page is provided for general informational purposes only and is not intended to constitute legal advice or establish that any particular electronic signature, document, or transaction is legally enforceable. Electronic-signature laws and requirements may vary by jurisdiction, transaction type, document type, and other circumstances. AcadiaSign does not guarantee that its electronic-signature workflow satisfies every legal or regulatory requirement.
Organizations should consult qualified legal counsel before relying on an electronic-signature workflow for a specific legal or regulatory requirement.