Digital signatures on electronic documents help identify and authenticate signatories, ensure document integrity, and provide non-repudiation. So, what additional value does a digital signature offer when combined with a trusted Timestamp and Long-Term Validation (LTV) technology, and in which cases should this solution be used?
Digital Signatures Ensure Signer Identification, Authentication, Document Integrity, and Non-Repudiation
Paper-based documents bearing handwritten signatures and red seals are gradually becoming outdated in the face of new societal demands and challenges. Paper documents are inefficient because they depend on and are constrained by numerous factors, including printing and scanning speeds, printers, ink, and document delivery times.
The same person’s handwritten signature may vary across documents and can be easily forged or used for fraudulent purposes, making verification and notarization difficult. Furthermore, paper documents are susceptible to tearing, alteration, and erasure, making their integrity difficult to guarantee. Therefore, adopting digital signature systems for individuals, organizations, and enterprises is a fundamental prerequisite and the first step toward comprehensive digital transformation.
In legal terms, digital signatures have the same legal validity as handwritten signatures and seals.
Electronic documents digitally signed in accordance with applicable regulations enable accurate identification and authentication of the signatory, ensure document integrity, and provide non-repudiation. A digital signature is intentionally created by its owner and is designed to prevent forgery or accidental creation through technical mechanisms provided by trust service providers and digital signature solutions. Digital signatures provide a trusted foundation for document digitization and the creation of electronic documents.
Digital Signatures With and Without Trusted Timestamps and LTV
With digital signatures that do not include a trusted timestamp, the displayed signing time is based on the clock of the signing device or server. This time can be easily altered using simple tools, potentially exposing time-sensitive documents and records—such as financial, banking, and securities transactions; purchase and sale contracts; electronic medical records; and certificates of intellectual property ownership or copyright—to forgery and fraud. In the event of a dispute, it may therefore be difficult to establish the exact time at which a document was signed and whether the digital signature was valid at that time.
In particular, when a digital certificate has expired, verifying the signing time and document integrity may become difficult or impossible if the necessary validation data has not been preserved. As a result, the document may lose its evidentiary value if its authenticity and the validity of the signature at the time of signing cannot be established.
This poses a risk to organizations that rely solely on digital signatures without trusted timestamps, especially when handling sensitive documents for which the signing time and the validity of the digital signature at that time must be proven.
Digital signatures combined with trusted Timestamping and Long-Term Validation (LTV) provide enhanced integrity protection for your electronic documents, helping preserve the evidence needed for long-term validation. These include:
- Signer identification and authentication
- Document non-repudiation
- Data integrity and trustworthiness
- Reliable evidence of the signing time, helping establish when the signature was applied and supporting non-repudiation of the signing time
Documents for which the legal validity of a digital signature at the time of signing is particularly important and for which trusted timestamping may be necessary, include:
- Electronic transactions and financial transactions
- Electronic contracts and credit agreements
- Various types of electronic records and supporting documents
- Electronic records and medical records
- Monthly/quarterly value-added tax (VAT) declarations
- Foreign contractor tax declarations and customs declarations
- Insurance certificates
- Financial statements
- Professional practice registration and licensing documents
- Copyright certificates
- Intellectual property ownership certificates
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