Best Practices on Electronic Signatures

[andrewsmd]

I don't need any code examples (at least not yet), but does anyone have any input of best practices for electronic signatures? I'm looking at building a legal site where clients could sign forms, such as wills and contracts, online. Is this possible? If so, how do I go about a process for this? Thanks,

[jatar_k]

>> could sign forms ... online. Is this possible?

I imagine it's possible though you might want to talk to someone with some legal expertise as to whether it's allowed.

Maybe you would need to have the member submit their signature somehow and then be able to apply that stored signature to an active document

You would need to be very secure, personal information as well as signature files, recipe for some serious theft.

[lammert]

Adding digital signatures to documents is quite well documented. You could use digitally signed PDF documents for example. Linking that digital signature to the actual person will be the most difficult step. In the Netherlands people can obtain a legally valid personal digital signature from some specialized notary offices. Other certificates are most of the time not recognized. Especially not self-signed certificates because they are not issued by an independent authority who can check the identity of the person. But procedures may be different in other countries.

[andrewsmd]

Hmm... I'm thinking I may have to walk away from this project. If my experience has taught me anything, it's you need to know when to say no.

[Brett_Tabke]

Talk to a lawyer about it... not other way around it. There are certain things you can do with electronic signatures and certain things you can't.

[andrewsmd]

I researched everything and like most idiot projects. The guy thought it would cost a couple thousand instead of around 15 K. He was a lawyer but apparently had no clue about what it costs to develop something like this. I did do a bunch of research to figure out everything I would need though. Thanks for everyone's help.