The Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (ESIGN Act) was signed into law in the United States on June 30, 2000. It grants electronic signatures the same legal standing as handwritten signatures in interstate and foreign commerce, provided certain conditions are met.
United States · Enacted 2000
Grants electronic signatures the same legal weight as ink-on-paper signatures for interstate and foreign commerce
Requires clear intent to sign — the signer must demonstrate willingness to be bound
Requires consent to conduct business electronically — signers must agree to use e-signatures
Requires identity attribution — each signature must be linked to a specific person
Mandates record retention — signed documents must be accessible and reproducible
Applies to all commercial, consumer, and business transactions unless specifically exempted
The Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (ESIGN Act) was signed into law in the United States on June 30, 2000. It grants electronic signatures the same legal standing as handwritten signatures in interstate and foreign commerce, provided certain conditions are met. These conditions include clear intent to sign, consent to conduct business electronically, proper identity attribution, and record retention. SignForge is purpose-built to satisfy every one of these requirements. Every signature captured on SignForge includes a full audit trail with timestamps, IP addresses, user-agent strings, and signer consent confirmation. Documents are hashed with SHA-256 at upload and after signing to prove integrity. ECDSA P-256 cryptographic verification provides an additional layer of non-repudiation that goes beyond what the ESIGN Act requires.
Explicit consent checkbox before signing confirms intent and e-signature agreement
Signer identity captured via email address, IP address, and user-agent string
SHA-256 document hashing at upload and after signing ensures tamper detection
Immutable audit trail records every action with timestamps — cannot be edited or deleted
Signed documents stored securely with 30-day download availability and Document Locker for long-term retention
ECDSA P-256 cryptographic signatures on verification records exceed ESIGN requirements
TLS 1.3 + SHA-256
Cryptographic proof
Append-only, immutable
Certified infrastructure
Yes. SignForge captures all elements required by the ESIGN Act: intent to sign (consent checkbox), identity attribution (email, IP, user-agent), document integrity (SHA-256 hashing), and an immutable audit trail with timestamps. These make every SignForge signature legally enforceable in U.S. courts.
Most commercial and business documents can be signed electronically, including contracts, NDAs, employment agreements, lease agreements, and purchase orders. Certain documents are excluded, such as wills, family law matters, court orders, and documents requiring notarization.
SignForge computes a SHA-256 hash of the document at upload and again after signing. Any modification to even a single byte would change the hash. Additionally, ECDSA P-256 cryptographic signatures are embedded in verification records, and every signed document includes a QR code linking to a public verification page.
No. Signers receive a secure, unique link via email. They can view and sign the document without creating an account. The signing link uses a 32-byte cryptographically random token, and only the SHA-256 hash of the token is stored in the database.
Legally binding e-signatures with 256-bit encryption, cryptographic verification, and an immutable audit trail. Free forever.
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