Electronic signature
An electronic signature is an electronic sound, symbol or process that a person attaches to a record, or links to it, with the intent to sign.
In plain words
US federal law defines the term broadly. It doesn't care what the mark looks like. A drawn squiggle, a typed name, a click on a button marked "Sign" and a recorded "yes" on a call can all qualify. What matters is that a person did it, and that they meant to sign that record.
So the word "signature" here names an act, not a picture. The picture of a name on the page is only one trace of that act. The rest of the trace is the record of how it happened.
An example
A contractor gets an email with a link. They open the agreement on their phone, agree to use electronic records, read the document, type their name in the signature box and press Sign. Each step is logged with a time. The typed name is the visible mark. The press of the button, next to words saying what it means, is the act that shows intent.
How it works in docuinked
Every signature in docuinked is an electronic signature in this sense. The signer opens their own link, sees the consumer disclosure when it is on, views the document and signs. They can also decline, or ask for paper. Each step goes into a hash-chained audit trail. When everyone has signed, the finished file gets one PAdES seal with an RFC 3161 timestamp.
Agents never sign. An agent can prepare a draft and ask to send it. Only the named signer can sign, on their own page. See approvals.
Common confusions
Electronic versus digital. People use the words as if they mean the same thing. They don't. An electronic signature is a legal idea about a person agreeing. A digital signature is cryptography over the bytes of a file. docuinked uses both: people sign electronically, and the finished PDF carries one digital seal.
Electronic versus scanned. A scan of a wet signature pasted into a PDF is an image. Whether it counts depends on who placed it and why. The image alone proves little.
Valid versus provable. The law says a signature can't be refused just for being electronic. That doesn't make every one easy to prove. Our legal guide covers what decides a dispute.
Related terms
- ESIGN Act and UETA, the US laws behind the definition
- eIDAS, the EU rules with three levels
- Audit trail, the record that backs a signature up
Sources
Checked 2026-11-07.
This page is general information, not legal advice.
Common questions
Does a click on an "I agree" button count as an electronic signature?
It can. The definition includes a "process", and a click is one. What makes it hold is clear wording next to the button and a record that this person clicked it.
Does an electronic signature have to look like handwriting?
No. Nothing in the US definition requires a handwritten look. docuinked lets signers draw or type, and both are recorded the same way.
Can a voice recording be an electronic signature?
The federal definition names "sound", so in principle yes. docuinked doesn't take voice signatures. It works with PDFs signed on a web page.
Related
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