Digital Signature for Departments

A digital signature is an encrypted electronic signature that can guarantee the origin of an electronic document, its integrity, and its authenticity. When you manually sign a document, you guarantee your agreement to the text content. A digital signature does the same thing and adds even more information. It guarantees signature authenticity by proving that you are the person who signed, it ensures document integrity, meaning that it has not been modified since the signature, and also confirms that the sustainability of the document, ensuring its validity for years to come.

Difference between a digital and an electronic signature :
An electronic signature consists of blocks of information that identify you. A digital signature is a form of electronic signature that is more secure because it is encrypted and can be invisible. It protects many elements of your documents.

A digital identity uses technological conventions to link digital identifiers to a person’s attributes. A digital identity guarantees that a given person is at the other end of the transaction or the origin of a signed document. For example, a digital identity can be used to sign birth certificates, passports, university transcripts and diplomas, contracts, technical plans and drawings, and affidavits. In short, a digital identity can be used to sign any document whose proof of origin may be required for weeks, years, or even decades to come.

Regardless of the medium, what is most important is the preservation of information. In Quebec, according to An Act to Establish a Legal Framework for Information Technology, RSQ, c C-1.1, to argue in evidence, it must be shown that the integrity of the information has been maintained throughout its life cycle. In other words, the content of the printed version must remain identical to its original, digitally signed, electronic version to maintain its legal validity. Conversely, the same principle can be applied, for example, to the original paper version that is digitized and sent by email. The whole of the information must be preserved and we must ensure that it has not been falsified or altered by using protective measures such as a digital signature, an electronic seal, time stamping, etc. Such measures assure that any changes made to the document can be traced.

Notarius digital signatures are used to sign official documents and meet the standards of many countries. However, each jurisdiction may have specific requirements that must be met in order to be recognized. For example, in France, many agencies will only recognize French certificate authorities. In the United States, requirements for authenticating engineering documents will mostly be limited to a technological baseline, but not specific to a provider or a standard. As such, Notarius digital signatures meet or exceed the minimum requirements for all US states (except Hawaii). It is important to verify local digital signature requirements with recipients prior to submitting signed documents that use Notarius digital signatures.

Of course, other considerations need to be evaluated before making a digital shift. Please feel free to reach out to Notarius for a working session on the subject for further discussion

Digital signatures are based on cryptography that was originally designed in the 1970s and is still considered the standard to secure different types of data. Digital signatures and their cryptographic derivatives are used in our daily lives to secure websites, communications, documents and financial transactions. If digital signatures were “hacked,” the first case of attack would likely be in the financial, military or government sector. An individual’s signed PDF document would be the least of a signer’s worries.

Not all digital signatures are issued and controlled in the same manner. Governments tend to limit the number of certificate authorities they will recognize or authorize. Strict guidelines are established and audited to ensure that the approved digital signature certificate authority has the proper technology, security, policy and process in place to guarantee the identity of all digital signatures issued. Notarius was created in the 1990s by Quebec’s Chambre des notaires (Board of Notaries) to build a government-grade certificate authority recognized by the Government of Quebec’s electronic land titles registry. Even today, very few third-party certificate authorities are authorized to issue trusted digital signatures for interaction with government agencies. Notarius is the only third-party certificate authority recognized by multiple provincial governments in Canada.

NO. This goes against our authentication standards and our certificate policies. Your right to use a digital signature may be revoked if you share your digital signature and password with someone else, including your colleagues, spouse and children. A third party may prepare your signature zone, but you are the only person who can use your digital signature.