Are electronic signatures legally binding
Yes, for almost everything you sign.
The part that actually matters
Electronic signatures have been recognised for two decades, and a mark drawn with a finger is one of them. The question is never whether it counts. It is what you can show afterwards.
The laws behind it
| United States | ESIGN Act 2000 and UETA at state level | |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | eIDAS as retained in UK law, plus the Electronic Communications Act 2000 | |
| Australia | Electronic Transactions Act 1999 | |
| Canada | UECA and PIPEDA at federal level | |
| European Union | eIDAS Regulation 910/2014 | |
What do these laws require?
They ask three things. The signer intended to sign. The signature is connected to the document rather than floating loose. Both are capable of being retained and reproduced later. A drawn signature saved into the PDF with a record of the time meets all three.
What is excluded?
Wills, some property transfers, powers of attorney and a handful of family law documents still want wet ink or a witness, and the list differs by country. If a document has a legal formality attached to it, check before relying on any electronic signature, including the expensive ones.
Where do cheap tools fall down?
Not on legality, on evidence. If all you kept is an image pasted on a page, you have no time, no context and no way to show the document was not altered afterwards. Inko keeps a ledger entry for each signing and can render a completion certificate next to the document.
One honest caveat
This is a plain description of how these laws work, not legal advice, and the author builds software rather than practises law. For anything high value, ask someone qualified in your jurisdiction.
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