About Electronic Signatures
On this page, we explain what an electronic signature is and how it works.
What is an electronic signature, and how does it work?
An electronic signature works the same way—and is just as legally binding—as a handwritten signature, but it’s often even more secure and efficient.
In simple terms, an electronic signature provides far more traceability and verification data than a signature on paper.
During the signing process, various data points are recorded — such as the sender’s email address, date and time of sending, the recipient’s email address, when the recipient opened the document, their IP address, and details about the device or browser used to confirm the agreement. All this information is stored as part of the signed document, ensuring it is legally binding and verifiable.
In DealBuilder, you can choose between several signing methods — from simple one-click signing to drawing a signature with a mouse or touchscreen. This flexibility lets your company select the signing method that best fits your needs.
The DealBuilder solution
– Built on PAdES (PDF Advanced Electronic Signatures) – an open international technical standard for e-signature solutions and PDFs, recognized under eIDAS (Europe) as well as ESIGN and UETA (United States).
– The signed document is self-contained, including all necessary information about signatories, certificates, timestamps, and each step of the signing process.
– All signatures are timestamped using a qualified time-stamping service and embedded directly within the PDF to ensure long-term validity through Long-Term Validation (LTV). This means that agreements can be verified at any point in the future—even as technology evolves—to confirm that the signatures were valid at the time of signing.
– Viewing and validating a signed PDF can be done with any standard PDF reader. An online revocation check combined with a mathematical checksum (hash function) ensures that both content and signatures remain authentic and unaltered after signing.
– All customer data and contracts are encrypted via TLS/SSL for complete security.
What a DealBuilder contract looks like
The first part of the document contains the actual contract. The second part is a signing summary page that includes all relevant information about the signatories, timestamps, and each step of the signing process. If the document was signed using a verified digital ID method, this information would also appear in the audit log. Any attachments uploaded together with the contract become part of the final signed PDF.
The example in image 1 below shows a contract or proposal created in DealBuilder, but the document being signed could just as easily be an uploaded PDF — such as an agreement, proposal, employment contract, board resolution, annual report, or any other document. In DealBuilder, you can sign all types of documents and choose the signing method that best fits each case.
Legal framework for electronic signatures
Electronic signatures are legally recognized in most countries and are governed by well-established international frameworks such as the eIDAS Regulation in the European Union and the ESIGN Act and UETA in the United States.
All of these frameworks share a common principle: electronic signatures are legally binding and carry the same validity as handwritten signatures.
The underlying legal foundation for electronic agreements comes from general contract law — where an offer followed by an acceptance forms a binding contract. Unless specific legislation requires a particular contract form or authentication method, an agreement can be made in many ways: on paper, verbally, by email or chat, or through an electronic signature.
Regulations such as eIDAS or ESIGN define how electronic signatures may be used but do not change the validity of contracts themselves. In fact, eIDAS explicitly states:
This Regulation shall not affect national or Union law related to the conclusion and validity of contracts or other legal or procedural obligations concerning form.
In practice, a standard electronic signature is fully valid and legally enforceable for most types of transactions — whether B2B, B2C, or between private individuals. To remove any doubt, eIDAS makes this clear:
An electronic signature shall not be denied legal effect or admissibility as evidence in legal proceedings solely on the grounds that it is in electronic form or does not meet the requirements for qualified electronic signatures.