Harsh Effects of Personal Digital Signatures on Business

As an organization existing in the digitalization era, you must be aware of digital signing, the electronic form of document signing and authorization. Business digital signatures are the future of all the document authorization processes of a business and the statutory requirements of a company.

These digital signatures can be issued in the name of the organization, called business digital signatures, or in the name of an individual, defined as personal digital signatures. Before digging into the subject of personal digital signatures and business digital signatures, it is important to get the basic concepts right.

Starting with the question,

What is a digital signature?

Any organization majorly relies on an authorized signature for a massive part of its business operations. Manipulation, tampering, or alterations in these signatures might put a business at risk. Moreover, these conventional signatures and stamps do not provide means of identification or a sense of security to the user. Business digital signatures solve all these problems and facilitate secure business signing.

Digital signatures are a form of electronic signatures that provide evidence of origin, identity, status, and consent of electronic documents, transactions, or digital messages. The business digital signatures ensure the authenticity of the signer and make sure that the information originated from the signer and has not been altered.

What are the benefits of digital signatures?

Found yourself asking the question that why modern-day businesses are switching to Automated e-signing? The list of benefits of digital signatures might answer the question,

1. Automation: The task of bulk signing documents manually can be overburdening and time-consuming. However, with the benefits of business digital signatures, you can reduce the lengthy procedures of manual signing and uploading the documents by the means of automation.
2. Security: Business digital signing ensures complete identity verification and saves the user documents from tampering, alterations, and manipulations. Moreover, organizational digital signatures are legally recognized by the government as a measure of authorization, authentication, and verification of documents.
3. Flexibility and Mobility: Besides time-saving and automation, business digital signing allows flexibility and mobility in work operations since the job can be performed anytime, irrespective of the location. By eliminating the need for physical interaction, digital signing allows users to collaborate virtually and perform the task of bulk e-signing remotely.

The word ‘business digital signatures’ has been used quite often so far. Now the question arises,

What are business digital signatures and how are business digital signatures different from personal digital signatures?

A digital signature can be issued by a Certifying Authority (CA) to an individual or organization on the fulfillment of statutory requirements laid down in the e-signing laws in India. Here, it is important to understand how digital signatures for businesses will be different from personal digital signatures,

1. The entity on whose name the digital signatures will be issued

The key point of difference between personal digital signatures and business digital signatures is that the former mentions the name of the individual or the authorized signatory alone, while the latter is issued in the name of the authorized signatory on behalf of the organization.

2. Number of devices over which the digital signatures can be used

Personal digital signatures can be used via a Digital Signing Certificate (DSC) which can be operated on one device at a time. As against personal digital signatures, the business digital signatures that are issued in the name of the organization can be used over multiple devices at a time, making bulk digital signing processes easy.

3. Number of individuals that can use the digital signatures

As given under the laws of e-signing, only the individual in whose name the digital signatures have been issued or the authorized signatory can make use of the personal digital signatures for online authorization. The digital signatures for business, however, can be used by multiple users at a time.

4. The legal liability associated with digital signatures

We all are aware that an organization is a separate legal entity with some of the same rights, as that of an individual. In case of legal liability, if so arises, statutory actions can be taken on the business.
The prime difference between personal digital signatures and business digital signatures is that the legal liability in the case of personal digital signatures lies on the authorized signatory whereas, in the case of business digital signatures, the legal liability lies on the organization.

5. Sample: personal digital signatures and business digital signatures

Harsh effects of personal digital signatures

An organization can avail of the benefits of digital signatures in the name of both the individual and the organization. The use of personal digital signatures, however, has its backlashes on the organization as well as the individual, on whose name the digital signatures have been issued.

But what are the disadvantages of personal digital signatures?

1. Identification and recognition

For the authorized signatory, on whose name the signatures have been issued, the identification and tracking of the associated organization will be troublesome. Personal digital signatures are not legally authorized and identification of the organization, in this case, might not be possible.

2. Legal liability

If any error, overdue, or legal penalty arises post authentication of the document, the legal liability in such a case, lies completely on the individual in whose name the digital signatures have been used, putting the individual at statutory risk. A business digital signature transfers this legal liability over to the organization and safeguards the interest of the individual.

3. Accessibility

As already discussed in the difference between personal digital signatures and business digital signatures, personal digital signatures limit the number of individuals who may use the digital signatures and the devices over which the digital signatures can be operated. This reduces the accessibility of digital signatures and slows down the pace of business processes.

Get business digital signatures with Web-e-Sign

As discussed so far in this blog, business digital signatures play an important role in safeguarding the organization and the signatory. The task at hand is to find the best e-signing solution for your business that can solve your digital signing problems and enhance your business processes.

Web-e-Sign by Webtel offers a range of features to facilitate fast and smooth digital signing, some of which have been listed below.

1. Web-e-Sign offers a web interface to track all activities like batch time schedules, log sheets, mail settings, and so on.
2. The one-time setting offered by Web-e-Sign for configuration and scheduling documents adds automation to the signing process.
3. Web-e-Sign offers enhanced security where all activities on a document are tracked, time-stamped, and free from tampering/ manipulation/ alteration.
4. Seamless Integration with any ERP is possible with Web-e-Sign through API and T-Code mode. All assistance is given from API/T-Code documentation to the implementation process
5. Document signer certificate issued in the name of Organization which is issued by Controller of Certifying Authorities (CCA) for server level signature.

Click here to know more about Web-e-Sign, the business digital signing solution.