Are Electronic Signatures legal in UK?

[Geekman]

Dear all,

Been through several posts on the site however couldnt conclude for sure whether electronic signatures on contracts are perfectly legal in the UK?

My agent is insisting using electronic versions of signed contracts instead of old paper based contracts. He has sent me an electronically signed PDF file of our contract and wants me to sign it electronically (or take print out, sign, scan and email back). Is this perfectly legal in the UK? or should I decline and insist paper based contracts?

Any suggestions/experience would be greatly appreciated. How are other contractors managing this?

Thanks!

[northernladuk]

Perfectly legal. Either print it and re-scan or use the signature tool in Adobe.

Plenty of articles on electronic signatures on google.

[theAccountant]

I use eSignatures in my practice. Clients are emailed their corporation tax returns, income tax returns etc using Adobe Echosign or using inhouse software IRIS. Esignatures are accepted by HMRC and also widely used by multinational companies (inc UK) etc.

I would suggest for a brief insight you read: Electronic signatures - FAQs and if your really need the source legislation then I suggest you read Chapter 7, Part III, Section 7 of the Electronic Communications Act 2000 (Link: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/7/section/7 .

Happy reading!

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

The vast majority of my contracts are signed digitally. I use RightSignature. Both my current and previous accountants have done so too. The old one used EchoSign, the current one uses IRIS.

I've also used the feature in Preview on OSX that lets you add your actual signature to a PDF.

Only a handful of my contracts have been signed with ink.

[darrylmg]

e-signatures on the pdfs is what I use.
Printing, physically signing and rescanning is so early 2000's!

[GillsMan]

e-signatures on the pdfs is what I use.
Printing, physically signing and rescanning is so early 2000's!

Totally this. Completely unnecessary to print, sign, scan and email, when you can use e-signatures. I use Adobe's offering, or the more rudimentary version which is a scan of my signature which I paste into documents. It looks better than it sounds.

[jamesbrown]

Totally this. Completely unnecessary to print, sign, scan and email, when you can use e-signatures. I use Adobe's offering, or the more rudimentary version which is a scan of my signature which I paste into documents. It looks better than it sounds.

Absolutely. The standard feature in Adobe Reader (under the "Sign" menu) is fine.

[philip@wellwoodhoyle]

No need for a contract to be in writing at all

A "verbal" contract is just as valid as a written contract anyway as long as it's clear what has been agreed between the parties. A signature acts merely to confirm the agreement. So, any form of email/electronic communication is just as valid as long as it's clear that both parties are agreeing to it and that the terms of the contract are clear.

The main area of doubt re electronic signatures is whether you're really dealing with who you think you are. It's easy for someone else to intercept your email and "sign" it on your behalf, so I'd be more concerned about making sure the person who "e-signs" it is really the person you think you're dealing with. At least with face to face, you can see who you're dealing with and with a hand written signature you can compare it with a passport or driving licence to help you be certain who you're dealing with. With email/electronic, you could be dealing with anyone with access to the other person's computer/email.

[Andy Hallett]

All perfectly fine. As long as you can show a valid offer and acceptance you have a contract. As many other threads testify you can also have an implied acceptance by your actions, eg turning up on site.

[Contreras]

The main area of doubt re electronic signatures is whether you're really dealing with who you think you are.

I'm interested to understand the security behind this a bit better but a quick google didn't get me much further than Adobe's own marketing spin.

I vaguely understand how GnuPG signing works. Is it anything like that?

How do you authenticate a signed PDF? What trust does it place in 3rd party "authorities"?

Are there compatible free software solutions based on an open-standard?