In any legal application, the importance of the chain of custody cannot be overstated. In the medical field, for example, the National Institutes of Health states that the chain of custody proves the integrity of a piece of evidence by maintaining a paper trail. This ensures that “the persons who had charge of the evidence at any given time can be known quickly and summoned to testify during the trial if required.”

From a criminal perspective, a recent VIDIZMO article confirms: “The chain of custody holds paramount importance when it comes to digital evidence authenticity as it proves that evidence is as original as collected at the crime scene.”

The same concept rings true when it comes to digital signatures (and electronic signatures, or eSignatures). In this instance, the software employed to apply an eSignature to a document must, without fail, deliver the full chain of custody of the document being signed with total visibility.

 “Every document signed with an eSignature should contain a full audit trail of the process followed, maintaining the chain of custody. With Impression, for example, this empowers users to track documents throughout their journey via dashboards noting when requests are opened, how the document is paged through, signed, and ultimately returned,” confirms Carrie Peter, Managing Director of Impression Signatures.

Why eSignatures are important

Why is this important? The chain of custody is essential to intelligence gathering, the ability to prove compliance, and bolster security. It is also important that this chain of custody be presented in such a way that a layperson can understand it.

In the pursuit of gathering intelligence during the eSignature process, a reliable chain of custody effectively offers insight into how users interacted with the document in question. “When managed correctly, digital signatures will be contextually aware, enhanced with a accepted GPS location, and carry device and network identifiers to demonstrate the chain of custody without fail,” adds Peter. “This drives process intelligence that goes down to a granular level, documenting when the email requesting signature was received and opened, that the signee agreed to sign electronically, and how much time was spent on each page of the document before signing.”

Proof of compliance is a critical component, and here the onus rests on the sending party (the party requesting the signature). Compliance requires adherence to the principles of consent and agreement. “Modern eSignatures create secure consent, agreement and approval processes that prevent any unintended alteration or intervention,” says Peter. “Adding to the chain of custody, this offers technical proof of the signing process, workflow and signatory interactions – creating an irrefutable technical audit, easily understood through a Chain of Custody Certificate.” She adds that this effectively eliminates the possibility of repudiation once a signature has been applied. “With Impression the modern signed document has become a standalone piece of evidence, able to testify to its entire life cycle, and hold each party to a contract accountable to the core agreement.”

Essentially, the overarching purpose of the chain of custody in eSignatures is to ensure the security and traceability of a document that has been sent out for signature. “Within a secure platform, the document and signatures attached to it are wholly transparent, ensuring only the right person can sign – and that they cannot deny signing it after the fact. For an electronically signed document to truly be able to testify to identity and consent, the electronic signature must remain under the sole control of the signer.”

The benefits of a reliable chain of custody are self-evident. It drives the protection of all parties involved, effectively prevents fraudulent interactions with the document, and guarantees that nothing can be changed once the document has been sent out for signature. “A good chain of custody helps businesses – and all parties to an agreement – prepare for the worst. With this in place, parties have the peace of mind that if something goes wrong, incontrovertible evidence is at hand to come to a swift resolution,” Peter says.