Are electronic signatures legally binding and held up in court?

A woman in an office uses her laptop to create and electronically sign a legally binding document.

Are electronic signatures legally binding? Learn about the legality of e-signatures and whether they hold up in court.

Electronic signatures make signing documents easy with the click of a button, but do they really make a document legally binding? In most cases, the answer is yes. Here’s what you need to know about the legality of e-signatures.

Does an electronic signature hold up in court? Read on to find out.

Does an electronic signature hold up in court?

Electronic signatures hold up in court since they are legal signatures. The Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, otherwise known as the E-Sign Act, states that electronic signatures shouldn’t be considered invalid simply because they’re electronic. In other words, e-signatures are completely legal and binding. They can hold up in court.

Is an electronic signature legally binding? We’ll go over the criteria in the following section.

Criteria to make electronic signatures legally binding.

Learning how to e-sign a document or PDF without the hassle of printing and scanning is simple. While electronic signatures are legal, anyone who wants to use one in court should be prepared to prove that there wasn’t any tampering after the document was signed. If a judge finds any reason to doubt the authenticity of an e-signature, they may declare it inadmissible in court.

For an electronic signature to hold up in court, it can’t have any weaknesses regarding:

Security
Audit logs
Authentication

Can electronic signatures be tampered with?

Electronic signatures can be tampered with, but their security can be greatly enhanced through various practices that make tampering difficult. The following security practices below can help significantly reduce the risk of tampering:

Require strong user authentication methods to ensure only authorized individuals can sign.

Use encryption during transmission to safeguard the signature data from interception and alteration.

Get digital signatures with cryptographic validation to detect any document changes.

Maintain detailed audit logs to track all document activities and deter tampering.

Store signed documents securely with access controls, encryption, and regular backups.

Operate within a legal framework that recognizes electronic signatures’ validity and enforces their legality for added protection.

The right tools to keep electronic signatures legally binding.

If you want to create a legally binding document, it’s important to use reputable e-signature software that meets all the highest security standards. That way, you — and the judge — can be confident that there hasn’t been any tampering, and the electronic signature has a better chance to hold up in court.