One of the most important yet challenging aspects of digital signing is making sure that sent documents can be accessed by their intended recipients only. Compared to in-person signing, the online world is not as straightforward and has many potential pitfalls. The ability to verify the identity of all participants is, therefore, a crucial part of eSigning that makes the whole process secure, safe, and fraud-proof.
Identity verification and why it is important
There are multiple levels of security when it comes to verifying the identity of signatories. The most basic one is verification by email address – you send a document to an email you trust belongs to the right person.
This works fine for daily paperwork. But if multiple people have access to the same mailbox? If the email gets hacked? Or what if your recipient makes a simple typo when giving you their email address?
All these scenarios may very well happen and for that reason, multiple-step verification is often added to documents to prevent unauthorized access. This extra protection step may appear in the form of a password, SMS code, or anything else linked to the user’s identity.
And although the multiple-step identity verification is effective and secure, sometimes, when it comes to extremely sensitive documents or multi-million dollar contracts, you just don’t want to leave any room for error. That’s where the “virtual ID check” comes to play.
UAE Pass, Bank ID, and National Digital Identity
National Identity providers like the UAE Pass in the United Arab Emirates, or the Bank ID in the EU, are services providing what is virtually a digital equivalent of an ID card or a passport – a unique proof of identity recognized on a national or multinational level, but in an online format.
These services are based on physical copies of their users’ already existing identity documents. What does it mean in practice? When a user logs in to an app to, let’s say, sign a contract using their National Digital Identity, it holds the same value as an ID check or passport control. Unlike authentication with a phone number or a social media account, this form of identity verification is nationally recognized, nearly 100% accurate, and almost unfalsifiable.
We recognize the value of identity and we are ready. Circularo has been successfully integrated with the UAE Pass and Bank ID in the EU and thanks to its Universal Digital Identity Framework, it can be easily integrated with any Digital Identity provider to securely authenticate and verify both internal users and external signatories alike.
Beyond user identity
Apart from verifying the identity of individuals, there is another, similar thing to consider when it comes to document authenticity – organization identity.
With Circularo, organizations can obtain their own unique AATL-compliant Electronic Certificate and make their company’s digital identity a part of the certificate itself, embedded in each signed PDF document.
This is important as anyone who opens a document containing this certificate would be able to immediately see and verify where it’s coming from (its authenticity) and, of course, its validity and integrity as well.
Ensuring the authenticity of each document is one of Circularo’s top priorities. Be it on an individual or organization level, we have solutions ready for integration when it comes to identity verification. That’s one of the many benefits of Circularo’s verifiable business documents.
Would you like to learn more about the Universal Digital Identity Framework and other features and benefits Circularo offers?
