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Validity of electronic signatures

The legal validity of electronic signatures generated by Odoo depends on the legislation of your country. Companies doing business abroad should consider electronic signature laws of other countries as well.

In the European Union

The eIDAS regulation establishes the framework for electronic signatures in all 27 member states of the European Union.

It distinguishes three types of electronic signatures:

  1. Electronic signatures
  2. Advanced electronic signatures
  3. Qualified electronic signatures

Odoo generates the first type, regular electronic signatures, and these signatures can produce legal effects in the EU, as the regulation states that “an electronic signature shall not be denied legal effect and admissibility as evidence in legal proceedings solely on the grounds that it is in an electronic form or that it does not meet the requirements for qualified electronic signatures.”

Note that electronic signatures may not be automatically recognized as valid. You may need to bring supporting evidence of a signature’s validity.

In the United States of America

The ESIGN Act (Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act), at the interstate and international levels, and the UETA (Uniform Electronic Transactions Act), at the state level, provide the legal framework for electronic signatures. Note that Illinois and New York have not adopted the UETA, but similar acts instead.

Overall, to be recognized as valid, electronic signatures have to meet five criteria:

  1. A signer must show a clear intent to sign. For example, using a mouse to draw a signature can show intent. The signer must also have the option to opt-out of electronically signing a document.
  2. A signer must first express or imply their consent to conduct business electronically.
  3. The signature must be clearly attributed. In Odoo, metadata, such as the signer’s IP address, is added to the signature, which can be used as supporting evidence.
  4. The signature must be associated with the document being signed, for example, by keeping a record detailing how the signature was captured.
  5. Electronically signed documents need to be retained and available for later reference by all parties involved, for example, by providing the signer either a fully-executed copy or the option to download a copy.