Company Blog

The term esignatures can cover many different options, and is synonymous with phrases like electronic signatures, or digital signatures. They all cover any service or technology that allows you to apply a unique signature or stamp to a document or service. This can be constructed from available data (your IP address, for example), or can be generated using a signature capture device.

The most common form of electronic signature that people will be familiar with are the pads carried by couriers and delivery drivers, and used by a recipient to sign for the delivery of a parcel. These are simple devices, designed to capture your signature on a simple LCD screen, and save it as an image which can then later be queried and displayed on a website as proof of delivery.

Then there are services that claim to provide you with a digital signature. This signature is nothing more than a collection of data that, when gathered, is meant to prove that you were the person to submit the ‘signed’ document. This usually consists of your name, the date and time, the IP address where the ‘signature’ was captured, as well as a few other pieces of information depending on the signature service you are using. While not exactly a signature like the ones we are used to, this is nevertheless still legally binding as all of the data compiles to provide a unique identifier for the signer.

Here at Steadlands, we provide signature solutions that are more secure than the devices carried by delivery drivers, and more personal than the data collected by digital signature services. Our products allow you to securely apply your own, personal, handwritten signature into an electronic document. This can be done in Microsoft Word or Excel, or you can sign PDF documents with Adobe Acrobat, or using one of our PDF signing applications. While the majority of our hardware solutions were designed for use in Windows, we also support Linux operating systems, and will include Mac systems as of early 2016. We are also branching out into alternative signing solutions for mobile and tablet signature capture, currently available for the iPad range.

While working with electronic signature pads, we are often asked about legality, and whether an electronic signature would stand up against its pen and paper counterpart in a court of law. To help relieve these concerns, we went and collected as much of the world’s legislation on electronic commerce, transactions, and signatures as we were able to find. Please note that our collection is subject to change, and is by no means exhaustive. Where possible, we will provide a PDF in English, but that has not been possible for all of the laws listed here, so you will find some of them in their native tongue.

Most of the world’s esignature legislation is based around the UN’s Commission on International Trade Law’s (UNCITRAL) Model Law on eCommerce, which we also have available. If you would like a copy of any of the below documents, please contact us. Please note that all of the countries listed have their own laws, but where multiple laws which affect esignature legislation exist, we have named both the country, and the act of Government in question. For example, the UK has the Electronic Communications Act, the Electronic Agreements Order, and the Electronic Signature Regulations document.

UNCITRAL Model Law on eCommerce
EU – Directive on eSignatures

UK – Electronic Communications Act
UK – Electronic Agreements Order
UK – Electronic Signature Regulations

USA – eSIGN Act
USA – eSIGN Consumer Consent Provision
USA – Uniform Electronic Transactions Act

Albania
Argentina – Digital Signature Law
Argentina – Decree 2628-02
Argentina – Decree 724-06
Armenia
Australia – Electronic Transactions Act
Australia – New South Wales Electronic Transactions Bill
Australia – Victoria Electronic Transactions Act
Australia – Western Australia Electronic Transactions Bill
Austria
Azerbaijan
Bahamas
Barbados
Belgium
Belize
Brazil
Bulgaria
Canada – Electronic Signature Regulations
Canada – Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act
Canada – Secure Electronic Signature Regulations
Chile
China
Colombia
Costa Rica
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Egypt
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany – eSignature Act
Germany – Framework Law for eSignatures
Greece
Guatemala
Hungary
Iceland
India
Ireland
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Korea
Latvia
Liechtenstein – eSignature Law
Liechtenstein – Regulation on Electronic Signatures
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macedonia
Malaysia
Malta
Mauritius
Montenegro
Myanmar
Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Pakistan
Panama
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
Samoa
Saudi Arabia
Serbia
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Africa
Spain
St Vincent
Sweden
Switzerland
Thailand
Turkey
Ukraine
Uruguay
Venezuela
Vietnam