The qualified signature is the highest level recognised by the European eIDAS Regulation: the legal equivalent of a handwritten signature, throughout the European Union. With 1-signature, you get it for a single document, with no subscription and no certificate to buy by the year.
What sets it apart
The eIDAS Regulation distinguishes three levels of electronic signature: simple, advanced and qualified. All are admissible in court. The qualified signature has two properties the others do not have:
- it has the legal effect of a handwritten signature (eIDAS Regulation, Article 25);
- it benefits from a presumption of reliability under French law (French Civil Code (Code civil), Article 1367, and the decree of 28 September 2017): it is up to whoever challenges it to prove that it is not valid, not up to you to show that it is.
It relies on a qualified certificate, issued after your identity has been verified, and on a qualified signature creation device.
When it is needed
- When the law or the other party requires it: public procurement contracts, certain professional procedures, certain financial institutions.
- When the stakes justify the strongest evidence: an acknowledgement of debt, a major commitment, a deed you expect to be challenged.
For an everyday document, it is not needed: a lower level is enough, and costs less.
Two ways to get it here
Your identity must be verified by a high-level identity provider. 1-signature offers two, at the same price and of the same value:
Choose the one you already have: neither can be obtained in a few minutes on the day of signing.
What you get
- The signed document, in PAdES format, with the signature visible where you placed it.
- An evidence file, which records the signature and allows it to be verified.
- A qualified timestamp, which fixes the date of the signature.
