We continue to publish set of articles about interesting technology areas and solutions we have implemented or encountered in our projects.
This article briefly describes our experience in integrating electronic document signing service.
Issue
One of our projects was created to simplify document management for lawyers. Contract and document signing process is a vital part of any legal paperwork, so we needed a safe and simple way to implement it for our project. There is a number of APIs providing this service so we needed to choose one which suits us the best. Criteria would be – socially proven/popular, secure, easy integration, eSignature without leaving our software.
Our Solution
After careful consideration and testing of various APIs we selected one that we liked the most – called HelloSign. Funded by reputable investors and one of the most popular APIs in e-signature world. Not only has it had nice and easy to use API. It also has all features we required. For example it was important that we don’t send people away from our site. They could do everything in one place: create an account, sign the document, manage documents. HelloSign supported that perfectly.
Also while working on integration we implemented not only typical use-case with signature of single document by multiple parties but also an interesting case when a multiple parties should sign their own copy of a single document. HelloSign also worked well in this situation.
Definitions
eSignature: an electronic signature, or e-signature, is any electronic means that indicates either that a person adopts the contents of an electronic message, or more broadly that the person who claims to have written a message is the one who wrote it (and that the message received is the one that was sent by this person).
The Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (ESIGN, Pub.L. 106–229, 114 Stat. 464, enacted June 30, 2000, 15 U.S.C. ch. 96) is a United States federal law passed by the U.S. Congress to facilitate the use of electronic records and electronic signatures in interstate and foreign commerce by ensuring the validity and legal effect of contracts entered into electronically. In 2010, both Houses of Congress passed a resolution at the request of industry leaders, recognizing June 30 as “National ESIGN Day.”
Directive 1999/93/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 1999 on a Community framework for electronic signatures is a directive on the use of electronic signatures (eSignatures) in electronic contracts within the European Union (EU).
