What is the ESIGN Act?

The “Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act”, or ESIGN Act, is the United States’ Federal law that approved the use of electronic records. It was passed by Congress and was signed by President Clinton on June 30, 2000.

With the ESIGN Act, the government established that electronic signatures have the same legality as a traditional signature on a piece of paper. This legislation opened the door for digital signature companies like SIGNiX to be seen as a secure and legally enforceable way to sign documents. In fact, SIGNiX signatures exceed the requirements of ESIGN compliance.

The ESIGN Act was intended to speed up the adoption and acceptance of Internet-based transactions. Before the ESIGN Act, businesses struggled to figure out how to handle online transactions. Many companies were accepting electronic signatures, but they weren’t sure whether those signatures were considered legal. The ESIGN Act allows transactions to be completed online, and SIGNiX’s digital signatures provide better fraud control than was possible with traditional signatures.