To tackle these issues, companies worldwide have turned to electronic signing as the most convenient option

However, this convenience comes at a price – the legality of your contracts may be significantly affected depending on which type of electronic signature you decide to use.

Most freelancers and small remote business owners believe that pasting an image of their handwritten signature at the end of a scanned PDF document or ticking a checkbox next to a remotely signed contract signifies 100% legality of the document in a court of law.

This assumption is, unfortunately, incorrect

Depending on the type of electronic signing, a company or individual may face serious difficulties defending an important, high-value contract with a client in the event of a billing dispute or intellectual property violation lawsuit.

Major international regulations such as the eIDAS legal framework and the ESIGN and UETA acts differentiate between three specific types of electronic signature that have varying levels of evidential power in court. In this article, I will discuss the legal definitions and technical differences between simple, advanced and qualified electronic signatures, and explain which option to choose to reliably sign important documents.

1. What is a Simple Electronic Signature?

A simple electronic signature (SES) is an electronic symbol or series of characters attached to or logically associated with other electronic data, used by a signatory to sign an electronic document

Examples of Simple Electronic Signatures

There are plenty of real-life SESs surrounding you in your daily business operations. Some of the most common examples are:

✓ simple electronic signature

✓ using your trackpad to write down your signature

✓ typing your name at the end of an email or document

✓ attaching an image of your handwritten signature to a Word doc or PDF

Why a Simple Signature is Often Too Simple for Legal Purposes

While simple electronic signature is the most basic form of document signing and is legally permitted across all major jurisdictions, it has extremely limited evidential power in courts. This is because a simple signature offers almost no built-in protections for either party in case of a dispute.

For example, if a troublesome client decides to refuse payment on a project already completed and claims your invoice or contract was fraudulent, a simple electronic signature may not help you protect your legal rights as a freelancer or a business owner

Someone dishonest enough could easily accuse you of forging their electronic signature by claiming that they had not authorized any document or invoice. A simple signature does not offer sufficient verification of the signatory’s identity and does not protect the document’s contents from unauthorized changes.

2. What is an Advanced Electronic Signature?

An advanced electronic signature (AES) is a type of electronic signature with a far greater level of security and evidential weight compared to a simple one. To qualify as advanced, an electronic sign must meet specific requirements defined by international regulations such as eIDAS. In particular, an advanced signature must:

✓ be uniquely connected to the signatory

✓ be capable of identifying the signatory

✓ be under the sole control of the signatory at the moment of signing

✓ allow the slightest changes to the document’s contents to be detected

How AES Technology Actually Works

An advanced electronic signature uses PKI technology and unique digital tracking IDs to verify identity and protect the document integrity. When using AES signing, your IP address, email and other identifying information are linked to the document and digitally secured.

In addition, a special file is created that immediately notifies you if any characters or numbers in your document have been changed at any time after signing.

Because of the high level of protection and built-in fraud prevention, advanced electronic signature provides far greater legal protection in courts compared to a simple one.

3. What is a Qualified Electronic Signature?

A qualified electronic signature (QES) is the apex of the e-signature security pyramid.

A qualified signature is essentially an advanced electronic signature that also has a built-in identity verification step performed by independent certified authorities. This extra level of security makes QESs the most reliable and trustworthy option available.

How Does Qualified Signing Differ From Advanced Signatures?

While an advanced signature has inherent fraud prevention features and may also be used abroad, it still does not offer full protection in international commercial disputes or high-profile litigation. This is because AESs were only designed to stop casual fraud attempts.

Conversely, a qualified electronic signature provides a level of security equal to a handwritten signature. In other words, it is legally recognized as “equivalent to a signature handwritten by the signatory”.

In addition, a qualified signature is always issued by a trusted third party called a Trust Service Provider (TSP) or Certificate Authority. When signing a contract or document with a qualified signature, your identity is verified using your government-issued ID card in a video call or special verification software.

What Is the Equivalent of a Qualified Signature?

When it comes to legal power, a qualified electronic signature is generally recognized as the closest thing to a paper contract with a wet ink signature. Therefore, in most cases, a qualified signature should be used for high-value commercial contracts and documents of a legal nature.

In a dispute in a court of law, the defendant will have to prove that their identity had been forged in order to invalidate a qualified electronic signature.

4. Which Signatures to Use: A Practical Guide

To reduce complexity and keep your business operations running smoothly, make sure you use the appropriate level of electronic signing for different types of documents.

Use simple signatures for: internal file approvals, employee vacations, receipt of goods, and other simple low-value document types.

Use advanced signatures for: freelance service contracts, NDAs, commercial lease agreements, independent contractor agreements, and sales quotes.

Finally, use qualified signatures for: high-value business contracts, banking-related applications, medical waivers, and other high-level documents.

5. How to Electronically Sign Simple Documents as a Freelancer

For most everyday business needs, signing your freelance service agreements and vendor proposals electronically can speed up the entire process considerably. You can sign your PDFs securely and professionally using the free AriaToolz Sign PDF tool.

To digitally sign your documents, follow these three simple steps:

Step 1: Prepare the Document for Signing

Before handing over your document to a client or vendor for signing, make sure that all terms, conditions, and payment schedules are final and cannot be changed. If your contract has additional appendices or project timelines, combine them all into a single document using the AriaToolz Merge PDF tool.

Step 2: Add Your Electronic Signature

Next, upload your contract to the AriaToolz Sign PDF tool and add your e-signature to the end of the document. You can easily draw your signature or upload an image card of your company’s official seal. When choosing where to place your signature, make sure to leave a clean space at the end of the document for the signatory’s final confirmation.

Step 3: Protect Your Document

Finally, download your signed document and protect it using the AriaToolz Protect PDF tool. By doing this, you prevent malicious third parties from altering your document contents or removing your e-signature using external PDF editors.