Digital signature software

In the legal sense, a digital signature is a so-called electronic signature. The regulations that were formerly governed nationally in the Signature Act are now found in the eIDAS Regulation on electronic identification and trust services, which applies throughout Europe. With a digital signature, you can sign a document (e.g., a loan agreement) on the Internet and without paper. This speeds up processes and saves costs. The legal framework for this is provided by the eIDAS Regulation, which applies throughout the EU. It defines the legal effect of electronically signed documents and their evidential value in court. With d.velop sign, you can sign simply, advanced and qualified.

You upload your document to the d.velop sign app and a hash value is sent to a trust service provider for certification. This provider verifies your identity and then sends the hash value back to d.velop sign. You can then download your fully signed document with the associated certificate. By simplifying the signature process in this way, you not only increase your level of digitization, but also save important time and costs at the same time.

Legislation can now be done through remote signature services. You put your signature on the document via a signature certificate. This certificate attests to your identity by a third party and is time-stamped. The qualified electronic signature has stood up in court and is therefore suitable for signing contracts.

The simple electronic signature does not represent any security-relevant added value for companies and is subject to the free judicial evaluation of evidence (§ 286 ZPO).
The advanced electronic signature is also subject to the free judicial assessment of evidence (§ 286 ZPO) and ensures the integrity of the document by means of a certificate. Only the qualified electronic signature (QeS) replaces the statutory written form (126, 126a BGB) and is therefore equivalent to the handwritten signature.

According to the eIDAS Regulation, Article 3 (16), a trust service is an electronic service that is usually provided for a fee and includes, among other things: Creation, verification and validation of electronic signatures, seals or time stamps, as well as verification and validation of certificates for website authentication. A qualified trust service meets the relevant requirements of the eIDAS Regulation, Article 3 (17), and is verified every two years in an elaborate procedure by an accredited conformity assessment body.
The result is communicated to the responsible supervisory authority (BNetzA or BSI). The status as a qualified trust service provider can be verified throughout Europe via a trust list and a seal of approval. The German trust list is available on the website of the Federal Network Agency: www.nrca-ds.de. “Bundesdruckerei” (sign-me) is a qualified trust service provider for signatures, seals, time stamps and website certificates.

“Electronic signature” is a legal or juridical term. It refers to data linked to electronic information that identifies the signer. In practical terms, it is similar to a handwritten signature on paper. The legal framework for electronic signatures has been summarized under the eIDAS Regulation. With an electronic signature, however, it is not always possible to verify whether the person actually signed the document or whether the signature may have been forged. Documents could also have been manipulated or changed without this being traceable.
Digital signatures offer additional security in this respect because, unlike electronic signatures, they contain an encrypted hash value. In addition, the person signing can be authenticated beyond doubt, making them equivalent to a notarized handwritten signature.”

Connected and the signature is directly in the document.
XAdES signature: XML, internally signed i.e. an XAdES signature is always connected to an XML document and the signature is directly in the document.

As a rule, contracts and declarations of intent do not require any special form. In particular, contracts do not generally have to be concluded in writing. A handshake is also sufficient to establish an effective contractual relationship. Nevertheless, for reasons of preserving evidence and documentation, it is advisable to conclude contracts in writing.
In addition, agreements are often made according to which certain declarations or notifications are subject to the written form, and for some specific forms of contract or declarations of intent this is even required by law. This is primarily for the purposes of documentation and verifiability with a view to any subsequent legal disputes.

Signature validation takes place within PDF viewing applications and depends on the approach of the corresponding application. Here, no reader proceeds like the second and corresponding standards, such as the necessary check against the European Trust List (EUTL), are rarely adhered to. Some readers with an internal truststore can store the certificate from the EUTL to enable a check against EUTL. If, for example, your Adobe certificates are not up to date, an error message may appear when checking your signature. Instructions on how to update your Adobe certificates can be found here. Acrobat Reader, for example, checks against the EUTL for qualified signatures and also displays this directly with the signatures that have been made. Basically, the validity of the QES is unaffected by the incomplete check in various readers.
If a signature is to be verifiably checked, we recommend using the official EU validation site for this purpose, where you can upload and check your document (https://ec.europa.eu/cefdigital/DSS/webapp-demo/validation). This software checks according to the specifications for validation and creates a test report at the end, which logs the process.

The eIDAS Regulation (eIDAS stands for “Electronic Identification, Authentication And Trust Services”) is a regulation on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the member states of the European Union. eIDAS represents a genuine legal innovation whose stated purpose is to promote the development of digital applications in Europe. The heart of this article law, the Trust Services Act (VDG), contains all the necessary regulations for the use of digital signatures. The new EU regulation enables a new, simplified procedure for electronic signatures. Here, the components for creating the signature are not stored on a card, but in a secure IT environment of a qualified trust service provider. This means that the electronic signature can also be triggered remotely, for example using mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones.

With d.velop sign you have the possibility to sign simple, advanced and qualified. For the selection of the right signature level, we recommend consulting a lawyer. We can gladly show you how other customers use d.velop sign. As a software manufacturer, however, we cannot give you advice on the legally compliant application of the solution. We will be happy to put you in contact with a specialist if required.