Are electronic signatures legal?

Yes, in most jurisdictions. The U.S. ESIGN Act of 2000 (15 U.S.C. §7001) and UETA give electronic signatures the same legal weight as handwritten ones, provided consent disclosure, intent, association, and retention are handled correctly. Canada's PIPEDA and provincial e-commerce acts apply similar rules.

KeenDraft provides Simple Electronic Signatures (SES)— the most common tier, suitable for the vast majority of contracts. We capture the signer's identity (via their email + magic link), intent (consent disclosure + adopt-and-sign step), the signature artifact, and a tamper-evident audit trail. The Certificate of Completion appended to the signed PDF preserves all of this.

High-stakes documents (real estate, certain government filings, EU-regulated transactions) may require Advanced or Qualified Electronic Signatures (AES / QES)with PAdES-compliant digital certificates. This isn't shipped today — it's on our v2 roadmap. Consult your lawyer if you need to know which tier your documents require.

This page summarizes our understanding; it is not legal advice. For specific questions about whether a signature will hold up in your jurisdiction, talk to an attorney.