What is an electronic signature - FAQ8

An electronic signature can be one of many things – an image of a handwritten signature, a symbol, a voice print – anything used to identify the author of an electronic message or signatory of an electronic document.  Many forms of electronic signatures are vulnerable to copying, tampering, and forgery. 

A digital signature is a secure form of an electronic signature that can be thought of as an equivalent of a handwritten notarized signature.  A digital signature is created with software that uses technology that binds a signature to a document and provides proof of signatory and is designed to resist tampering or alteration. 

Currently, the university uses certain forms of electronic signatures, including digital signatures, for internal forms between departments.

Except in specific circumstances related to contract documents in the Office of Research, the university does not endorse the use of electronic signatures with external parties because of vulnerabilities.  This does not, however, include a prohibition of scanned copies of manually signed contracts.  Although the use of an image of a signature is discouraged (i.e., copy and pasting an image or picture of a signature into a document), it is permissible to keep a signed scanned copy of a contract.  In this situation, an entire document is printed out, signed by hand, and then scanned or copied for distribution purposes.