eIDAS, Regulation (EU) No 910/2014

Legal validity

What an eSoppari signature is under eIDAS, and what it is not (yet).

  • Advanced electronic seal
  • Qualified timestamp
  • PAdES-B-LT
Agreement eID Advanced electronic seal eIDAS Art. 36 Qualified timestamp RFC 3161 Agreement eID

Three levels of electronic signature

eIDAS, Regulation (EU) No 910/2014, governs electronic signatures across the European Union. It recognises three levels, for the signatures people make and for the seals organisations apply.

  1. Basic

    A typed name, a scanned handwritten signature, a tick in a box: on its own, nothing establishes who applied it. A signer's own act in eSoppari is at this level in eIDAS terms; what sets it apart is the evidence sealed around it.

  2. Advanced The seal eSoppari applies

    Uniquely linked to whoever applies it, capable of identifying them, created with means under their sole control, and linked to the document so any later change is detectable. The seal eSoppari applies to every document is at this level.

  3. Qualified Planned

    An advanced signature or seal created on a certified device with a qualified certificate. eSoppari's seal certificate is qualified, but its key is not held in a certified device, so the seal stays advanced.

  1. eID authentication Strong eID
  2. Advanced electronic seal Art. 36
  3. Qualified timestamp RFC 3161
  4. Validation data in the file PAdES-B-LT

What eSoppari delivers

Each signer authenticates with a strong national eID and confirms their intent. eSoppari records that evidence and applies its own advanced electronic seal over it, with a timestamp from an EU-qualified authority and long-term validation data embedded in the document.

  • The seal is ours.

    Signers hold no certificate of their own.

  • The identification is the eID scheme's.

    The question a dispute usually turns on (was it really this person?) is answered by the scheme rather than by us.

Why we seal at the advanced level today

Today eSoppari seals at the advanced level. Qualified signatures need a certified device and a qualified certificate for each signer, which adds cost and friction for everyone you ask to sign.

If you need a qualified signature today, eSoppari is not the right tool for it, and we would tell you so. Support for qualified signatures is planned.

Qualified level A certified device and a qualified certificate for each signer

Planned

eSoppari Strong identification of every signer under an advanced seal

Integrity and non-repudiation

The seal covers the document as a whole. Any later alteration breaks the cryptographic link and is detectable by anyone who checks the file.

  • As signed

    Seal intact

  • A changed figure

    Link broken

  • An added page

    Link broken

  • A removed clause

    Link broken

  • Validation data travels inside the PDF.

    So the evidence that a signature was valid stays with the document.

  • Non-repudiation

    A signer who authenticated with their own eID cannot credibly deny having signed, and a holder cannot alter what was signed without it showing.

Check before you switch

  • Document type
  • Governing jurisdiction
  • Form the law requires

Rules differ between countries.

When an electronic signature is not enough

Some document types are required by law to follow a specific form, and an electronic signature at any level may not satisfy it. The rules differ between countries and document types, and they change.

Before moving a class of document to electronic signing, check the requirement for that document type in the jurisdiction that governs it. We cannot make that determination for you.

Checking a signed document

Anyone holding a finished document can open the verification link it carries, free of charge and with no account. The check confirms the document has not been altered and lists every verified signer.

verification link Your file stays here Fingerprint, computed here 9f2c 41ab ... e07d Not altered Verified signers fingerprint only on a match: names eSoppari verification link Your file stays here Fingerprint, computed here 9f2c 41ab ... e07d Not altered Verified signers fingerprint only on a match: names eSoppari
  1. The fingerprint is computed locally. Your file never leaves the browser.
  2. Only the fingerprint is sent.
  3. Signer names appear only once the fingerprint matches.

Or check it without us.

The same file validates in the EU's DSS validator, Adobe Acrobat or any PAdES-aware PDF reader, from the data embedded in the document. That path does not involve us at all, which is the point.

How we secure it

The legal argument rests on the technical one. Security sets out the mechanisms behind every claim on this page.

Security Get started
  • eIDAS Art. 36
  • RFC 3161
  • PAdES-B-LT