A preservation service for digital signatures protects and preserves electronic signatures. This is important as it guarantees the legal validity of electronic signatures. The preservation service is responsible for ensuring that the signatures cannot be manipulated or changed and that they can be retrieved at any time.

d.velop sign cannot store the signatures, as users do not have access to the documents after a download. The DMS is responsible for this, as the signed documents are stored there. d.velop offers d.velop Documents as a solution for this.

With a digital signature, you can sign a document (e.g., a loan agreement) on the Internet and without using paper. That accelerates processes and saves costs. The eIDAS Regulation applies across the EU and constitutes the legal framework for digital signatures. It defines the legal effect of electronically signed documents and their probative force before court. You can use d.velop sign to perform basic, advanced, and qualified signatures. The qualified electronic signature is the highest level. It has the same legal effect as a handwritten signature and thus replaces the written form on paper.

The eIDAS Regulation (eIDAS stands for “electronic identification, authentication and trust services”) is a regulation concerning electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the member states of the European Union. eIDAS is a new legal development whose declared purpose consists of promoting the development of digital applications in Europe. The main component of this omnibus law, the Trust Services Act (Vertrauensdienstgesetz, or VDG), contains all the necessary regulations for using digital signatures. The new EU regulation makes a new, simplified procedure for electronic signatures possible. In this instance, the components for creating a signature are stored in the secure IT environment of a qualified trust services provider instead of on a card. This means that the electronic signature can also be triggered remotely, for example using mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones.

Read more here.

The electronic signature is a legal term. This refers to data linked to electronic information that identifies the signatory. For practical purposes, it is similar to a handwritten signature on paper. The legal framework for electronic signatures has been summarized under the eIDAS Regulation.

With an electronic signature, however, it is not always possible to check whether the person has actually signed the document or whether the signature may have been forged. Documents could also have been manipulated or changed without this being traceable.

Digital signatures offer additional security in this respect because, unlike electronic signatures, they contain an encrypted hash value. In addition, the person signing can be authenticated beyond doubt, making them equivalent to a notarized handwritten signature.

The d.velop sign application has an open residual interface (API) and can be seamlessly integrated into any target system. Standard interfaces are currently available for the d.3one system and SharePoint.

Via our d.3 system, d.velop sign can also be integrated into the following systems:

Due to legal regulations, digital documents and signatures must be archived for different lengths of time and their validity must be verifiable even years later. This concept is called Long-Term Validation (LTV). Signatures made with d.velop sign fulfill this concept.

Read here how the LTV signature works and what information must be provided.

After booking d.velop sign, users receive an automatic email to activate their d.velop sign cloud account. The administrators can also provide you with an onboarding email with helpful tips & tricks. The software is self-explanatory and easy to use. Please take a look at our support page here , where all the individual steps are explained and videos are available to help you. If required, we can support you with onboarding. If you are interested, please contact us at sign@d-velop.de .

You need the online ID function of your ID card to be able to identify yourself securely on the Internet. If you would like to activate the online ID function or have forgotten your PIN, you can request a PIN reset letter here. You will need your ID card, a current registration address in Germany, a smartphone and the AusweisApp2 installed. Now click on Order letter free of charge and then on Continue with AusweisApp2. Now follow the instructions.

If you have received the letter by post, you will find a new PIN for the online ID card, an activation code and a QR code so that the online ID card function can be activated automatically. Scan the QR code with your smartphone and follow the instructions.

The on-site signature is also known as the POS signature. POS is the abbreviation for Point-of-Sale, which means that the people to be signed sit together in the same place and sign the contract digitally.

The signature is made using a touch pen and a tablet, which must be connected to the Internet. In the next step, the freehand signature must be selected in the settings.

The signature form can be used for both the FES and the QES, whereby identification with D-Trust is required for the QES.

For more information, please watch the following video:

Electronic seals become relevant when legal entities, such as companies or authorities, want to sign documents digitally themselves, without the involvement of their representatives. This follows from Art. 3 No. 24 eIDAS Regulation, according to which the seal creator is "a legal person that creates an electronic seal" This is nevertheless an advanced signature. However, this cannot be clearly traced back to one person.

Read more about the use and validity of electronic seals here.

In comparison, electronic signatures are suitable for the submission of digitally documented declarations of intent by individuals. According to "eIDASArt. 25 (2):A qualified electronic signature has the same legal effect as a handwritten signature" Electronic signatures are therefore always a personal signature/certificate relating to the person.

For more information, please watch the following video:

There are three different signatures – basic, advanced and qualified. The eIDAS regulation defines the advanced and qualified signature. All other signatures are referred to as "simple" eSignatures. The basic and advanced signatures are subject to a so-called free judicial assessment of evidence. Only the qualified signature corresponds to the written form according to BGB 126a and is equivalent to a handwritten signature.

The use of d.velop sign enables the use of all signature levels of the eIDAS regulation - from the simple to the advanced to the qualified electronic remote signature. The latter fulfills the requirement of written form and is equivalent to a handwritten signature in terms of its legal effect.

For more information, please watch the following video:

When creating a time stamp, signature cards access the time and date of the computer, which is easy to manipulate.

Remote signatures prevent the backdating of electronically concluded contracts, as a qualified time stamp is issued.

This is issued by the trust service provider on the basis of an atomic clock and therefore cannot be manipulated. The use of d.velop sign enables the use of all signature levels - from the simple to the advanced to the qualified electronic remote signature. The latter fulfills the written form requirement and has the same legal effect as a handwritten signature.

The signature with Swisscom is a signature with an advanced seal, which is advertised on the market as an advanced signature (FES). This is not only done by d.velop, but also by all other market players. However, d.velop additionally inserts a seal certificate for each signature made, thus increasing the burden of proof. For the signature to be valid as an FES, the initiating person must assign a personal password for the signing persons when circulating signatures. If no additional password has to be entered for authentication, the security level would only correspond to a simple electronic signature (EES) according to the eIDAS Regulation.

In the sense of the eIDAS regulation, advanced signatures are always signatures with a personal certificate, which d.velop also offers with the personal certificate via D-Trust as FES. It should be noted that a corresponding identification procedure at D-Trust, a company of the Bundesdruckerei Group, is required for each person who signs the document (this may reduce user acceptance).

Both the EES and the FES (regardless of whether it is a seal or a personal certificate) are subject to the free presentation of evidence by a court. Only the QES fulfills the written form requirement according to §126, 126a BGB in accordance with the eIDAS Regulation. In very many cases, however, the legislator does not even stipulate the written form requirement.

According to Article 3 (16) of the eIDAS Regulation, a trust service is an electronic service that is generally provided for a fee and includes, among other things, the following: Creation, verification and validation of electronic signatures, seals or time stamps, as well as the verification and validation of certificates for website authentication. A qualified trust service fulfills the relevant requirements of the eIDAS Regulation, Article 3 (17), and is checked every two years in a complex procedure by an accredited conformity assessment body. The result is communicated to the responsible supervisory authority (BNetzA or BSI). The status as a qualified trust service provider can be verified throughout Europe via a trusted list and a seal of approval. The German trusted list is available on the website of the Federal Network Agency: www.nrca-ds.de. D-Trust, a company of the Bundesdruckerei Group, is a qualified trust service provider for signatures, seals, time stamps and website certificates.