Electronic signature vs digital signature: what is the difference?

Electronic signature

US law defines an electronic signature as an electronic sound, symbol or process attached to or logically associated with a record and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign it. That covers a typed name, a drawn signature, a picture of your handwritten signature, or clicking “I agree”.

What makes it a signature is intent, not technology. That is why an e-signature service records evidence around the signature: consent, who received the link, when they signed and from where.

Digital signature

A digital signature uses public-key cryptography. The signer holds a private key, and a certificate issued by a certification authority links the matching public key to their identity. Signing produces a value anyone can check: if one character of the document changes, the check fails.

This is what PDF software calls a certificate-based signature, what the EU’s eIDAS Regulation builds its advanced and qualified signatures on, and what many national laws mean by a “digital signature”.

The differences at a glance

• Purpose: an electronic signature shows agreement; a digital signature proves who signed and that the file has not changed.
• Identity: an e-signature usually identifies the signer by email and the record around it; a digital signature identifies them through a certificate.
• Setup: anyone can e-sign from an email link; a digital signature needs a certificate, often with an identity check first.
• Use: e-signatures cover most everyday contracts; digital signatures are expected where a law or a regulator asks for them, such as some government filings.

Which do you need?

For NDAs, service agreements, offer letters, quotes and consent forms, an electronic signature with a good audit trail is the norm. Check for a specific requirement when a law, a court, a land registry or a government portal says a document must carry a certified or qualified signature. In those cases, use the process they name.

Where PactPen fits

PactPen provides electronic signatures. It does not issue signer certificates, so it does not create certificate-based digital signatures. It does use cryptography to protect the record: each document is hashed with SHA-256 when it is signed, so a later change to the content is detectable, and the signed PDF carries a certificate of completion with the audit trail.