Electronic Signatures

It's common that I get asked, "How do you electronically sign something in Buzzsaw/Constructware?" Usually the person asking wants to know how a document they normally route/approve on paper, will work in the CPM world of digital documents.

This is a pretty complex topic, and I would advise you to get in touch with me if you want to discuss it, but here are some of the highlights:

1. Everything you put into Constructware or Buzzsaw is effectively signed with your electronic signature. Why? Because you're logging in with your secure password to put it there (or approve it, or forward it, or whatever.) As long as it stays "live" in Constructware or Buzzsaw, your signature stays "affixed" to it. (If you print or download the document, the signature remains online, but is not in the downloaded document.) The activity logs on Buzzsaw/Constructware are your permanent signature record. That means you want to keep your stuff online, or if you don't plan to do that, archive the logs regularly! (Keeping them online is better.)

2. There's a difference between "electronic signatures" and "digital signatures." An electronic signature is any signature in electronic form (even a scanned piece of paper signed.) A digital signature is a signature applied in digital form to a digital document; usually a private key is involved. Digital signatures are used pretty widely in software, but not used too widely in the business world. There are several reasons for this, and most of them have to do with the complexity of the infrastructure and how different it is from what people are used to.

3. The legality and enforceability of electronic signatures varies, and you should check with your legal counsel regarding your organization's specific policies, but in general electronic signatures carry the force of physical signatures in several international jurisdictions. In the U.S., the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (ESIGN) was enacted in 2000, and its first section reads as follows:

The general intent of the ESIGN Act is spelled out in the very first section(101.a), that a contract or signature “may not be denied legal effect, validity, or enforceability solely because it is in electronic form”.

So that seems pretty clear. Electronic signatures are treated equally under the law as physical signatures, which means that both types can be used equivalently, but both types must be authenticated, and both can be challenged as forgeries, fakes, or invalid statements of intent.

Simple e-mails have been used in court to show intent, so in those cases an unsecure, unsigned e-mail (exposed through the discovery process usually) can provide enough proof to satisfy a judge and jury. Think Martha Stewart.

Anyway, the bottom line is: if you're interested in electronic signatures, using CPM can definitely help get you there. Check with your legal team, then charge ahead!

Comments

[Bob]

A scanned image of a handwritten signature is NOT an electronic signature (just like John Hancock didn't sign your note above) UNLESS that signature can be shown to have been applied by the party indicated by the signature with the intent to sign that document.

Many people put images of their signatures on stuff, and that is fine, but it's easy to copy that signature and post it elsewhere, yet those are not considered to be electronic signatures, just digital images of signatures. The US ESign Act is pretty clear about what makes an electronic signature. You can read more on Wikipedia or sites by pros like Yozons, Silanis, etc.

[Jason Pratt]

Hi Bob, thanks for the comment. My somewhat unclear original post said, "a scanned piece of paper signed" which is different from a scanned image of a signature.

Probably it should have read "a scanned piece of signed paper" though. Thanks for the clarification.

[Paul Carter]

If I may be so bold, as to add. Some time ago I was a project engineer in architectural hardware and had to sign off on countless shop drawings, approvals and change orders.
All this when the fax dominated communication. As we fast forward to the present my employer has been enjoying success in the insurance and financial services verticals with our e-Signature solution and I have been intrigued for a while about the possible demand for a legal, verifiable and authenticateable electronic signatures for AutoCAD (DWG/DXF/DWF) and other forms of C.A.D. processes. I would be obliged for any response regarding this potential.
Sincerely
Paul Carter
Vice President, Marketing Operations
Office: 352.331.6262
Mobile: 352.262.6481
Fax: 352.331.1528
Toll Free: 877.587.8376
http://www.marketech.us

[cilvecs]

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[digital certificate]

Very helpful article, but as one comment already said here, I dont think that a scanned image of an signautre is considered as an digital signautre. I think its much more complex than this, using loads of bits-based algorithms.