Electronic signature vs digital signature: what's the difference?
If you've shopped for a signing tool, you've seen both terms used as if they're the same. They're related, but they describe different things, and knowing the difference helps you pick the right tool and sound credible when a client asks.
Electronic signature: the legal concept
An electronic signature is any electronic indication of intent to agree, a typed name, a drawn squiggle, a click of "I accept." It's a legal idea, defined by frameworks like the EU's eIDAS and the US ESIGN Act. For the vast majority of business agreements, a simple electronic signature is valid and enforceable.
Digital signature: the technology
A digital signature is a specific technology that can be used to secure an electronic signature. It uses cryptography to bind a signature to a document and to make later changes detectable. Put simply: "electronic signature" is what it is legally; "digital signature" is one way to make it secure and provable.
Which do you need?
For everyday agreements, proposals, NDAs, contractor terms, engagement letters, an electronic signature is enough to be binding. What actually protects you if a signature is ever disputed is the record around it: proof of who signed, when, and that the document hasn't changed since. That's the part many free tools skip.
- Enforceable comes from the electronic signature being valid under eIDAS / ESIGN.
- Provable comes from a tamper-evident, sealed record you can verify later.
You want both, without having to think about the plumbing.
How Signet handles it
Signet gives you valid electronic signatures under eIDAS, ESIGN and UETA, and seals every completed agreement with a tamper-evident, verifiable record, so what you send is both enforceable and provable. No cryptography to configure, no jargon to learn. See the detail on our security page, or how e-signatures hold up in law.
General information, not legal advice.
Signet is in private beta, request early access and send your first sealed agreement free.