How does an electronic signature work?

An electronic signature is an extremely prospective subject, primarily for entrepreneurs who value their time, are happy to use the latest solutions to improve the operation of their businesses, and for whom transaction security is a priority. How does an electronic signature work? How to sign a document electronically? What else should you know about it? Find out more in our article!

Electronic signature as the future of entrepreneurs

In the era of a worldwide pandemic and limited social contacts, by virtue of a top-down decision, millions of Poles have transferred their previous duties - including official duties - to their own homes. The necessity of working in home office mode, has resulted in a need for many Polish enterprises to formalize key contracts without leaving home or office, and thus - without physical contact directly with contractors or clients.

Electronic signature as the future of entrepreneurs

Currently, the security of an electronic signature is of dual importance: not only is it safe from the point of view of the entire process of signing documents (including technical aspects), but also because it does not require to meet with a business partner directly. What's more, the mechanism of electronic signatures is incomparably faster and more convenient than traditional ways of signing and exchanging documents. What seemed to be a script from science-fiction movies until now, has become real and available almost at your fingertips, thank to Autenti.

You can successfully use the electronic signature to sign contracts for specific work and contracts of mandate, but also acceptance protocols, various types of purchase and investment contracts, orders or contracts with your clients.

What is an electronic signature?

In order to be able to talk about how the electronic signature works in practice, first we will briefly explain what it actually is.

Imagine that you create a text document in any editor and then sign with your name and surname. Theoretically, you can actually call it a signature. In practice, however, it has no legal force - it lacks confirmation that it was you and your intention to consciously sign the document. In order to consider an electronic signature, you need significantly more advanced solutions and mechanisms that will formally confirm the authenticity of your signature.

An electronic signature is nothing more than a unique sequence of bits generated and verified by computers for each document separately. This string is attached to the created electronic document (as its integral part), becoming an official confirmation of the submitted declaration. Changing the content of the document or changing the signature itself will cause the signature verification to give negative results.

Electronic signature - how many people can sign the same document this way?

The Autenti platform makes it possible to place multiple signatures on one document. If you are the one sending the document, you decide not only who should sign it, but also in what order the signatures will be placed. As soon as all the indicated persons have signed the document, it will be provided with an advanced electronic seal, which confirms the following:

• authenticity of the document - this means that it was created and signed under one platform, namely Autenti;
• document integrity - which means that each signing person used the same document as the others.

It is a fast and safe solution that saves not only your money, but something that has an even greater value - your time!

How to sign a document electronically?

One of the most important advantages of an electronic signature is the speed of its placement and the intuitiveness that comes with it. For example, if you have been asked to sign documents to conclude a contract, you can easily do so, even without creating an account on Autenti.

What's more, to place your e-signature, you don't have to pay for anything or install additional software. All you need to do is use your laptop, tablet or smartphone with internet access.

To submit an electronic signature, all you have to do is

1. access your email and open the message sent by Autenti;
2. read the content of the email received;
3. click on "Document" (blue button);
4. thanks to the generated link, you will be redirected to the Autenti website with the document you are interested in in an electronic version;
5. there, you can confirm that you have read the content of the document and accept it (at the bottom of the page in the "Declarations and Consents" section, you will find a box to click and select "✓");
6. click on "Sign" (green button).

As soon as you sign the received document, the sender will get a notification.

It's that simple!