Digital/Electronic Signatures on Professional Documents

Are you digitally signing your professional documents?

You should be!

It has been a while since I covered the topic using Digital/Electronic Signatures on Professional Documents.

I have been using digital signatures over 18 years now. My circular seal is barely used anymore. I never use a rubber stamp. I have one somewhere I just don't know where it is.

I collaborated with the Arizona State Board of Technical of Registration (AZBTR) and their attorney to formulate the design and methodology to use digital signatures on surveys when they adopted the substitative policy back in June 17, 2002.

I was an early adopter. One AZBTR board member called me a pioneer.

Below is the digital seal that I use on all my Results of Surveys, ALTAs, Boundary Surveys, Legal Descriptions, etc.

The text portion is generated in CAD or a Word Document. The embedded digital signature is signed with the free Adobe Reader.

Occasionally, even today some public entities want to see a circular seal (Traditional wet seal).

I scratch my head when the term "Wet Seal" is used. That is so " old school " and the seal is not really WET or it would smear all over the place. LOL

For those occasions, I use a "Block" of a circular seal in CAD and then sign it with Adobe Reader. The signature is still embedded in the PDF which I like for security reasons.

If the PDF gets altered after I sign it, a notice will display that the signature is invalid. That won't happen with a hand written signature on a document.

Side Note 1 : Before PDF, I have had surveys altered after I have signed them without my knowledge. I really like the PDF security features.

Side Note 2 : All signatures hand or electronic can be forged nowadays. The original PDF that I keep can be electronically compared to a PDF copy to verify its authenticity if needed.

I wrote a book on using digital signatures back in 2014.

This book details the setup and how to use a digital signature. It mentions Adobe Pro but you can use Adobe Reader now which is free.

Conclusion

Even after 18 years of being able to use digital signatures in Arizona, the only ones that I have seen implement them are a few land surveyors. I have not seen any engineers or architects use them, at least not yet.

The State of Oregon has adopted my digital design as well. I am not sure if other states have moved into the digital era.

There is something about the traditional circular seal that is hard for some professionals and public agencies to give up.

I guess it will happen when it is pried from their cold dead hands!

www.cc4w.net

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