Overview
Cloud-based digital signatures backed by reputable identity providers (IdP) deliver a strong identity verification of the recipient. Identity providers strongly vet a user prior to issuing a digital signature certificate, and users must authenticate to the IdP before the certificate can be applied as a signature.
Acrobat Sign supports a wide range of signature providers in multiple countries. Administartors can configure their account (or specific groups) to accept digital signatures from one or more provider.
Acrobat Sign acts only as a platform for the digital signature to be requested and provided, with no additional costs added. One exception to that standard is Aadhaar which can provide digital signatures at an additional cost. Acrobat Sign accounts with a VIP license can purchase Aadhaar identity transactions through Adobe and track their consumption in the admin menu.
Cloud based digital signatures can be used in addition to standard authentication methods. The signature field is authored onto the document, not configured by the sender as an authentication method.
The signature process for the recipient
The agreement must be designed with a Digital Signature field to obtain a digital signature.
When the signer selects the Digital Signature field, a secure session is opened to the IdP to authenticate the user before the signature can be applied.
- If the agreement is sent from a group that has only defined one approved IdP, the session automatically opens to that IdP.
- If the agreement is sent from a group with multiple IdPs enabled, the signer is presented with a list of those IdPs. Once one is selected, the session opens.
Every IdP has its own interface and process for vetting the signer. If the signer does not have a digital signature certificate, there will be an option to create one.
Below are four short example videos that describe different vendor solutions:
Configure an agreement to use cloud-based digital signatures by adding a Digital Signature field
The option to enable cloud-based digital signatures is entirely in the hands of the administrator to configure the group to allow the option.
Once enabled, senders only need to ensure that a Digital Signature field is authored onto the document to capture the signature. A normal Signature field only collects an electronic signature. No authentication to the digital signature provider is attempted with an electronic signature field.
Only one Digital Signature field is allowed per recipient. If a recipient requires multiple signatures, one Digital Signature field should be placed, and all other signatures should be electronic signatures.
Consumption of premium authentication transactions
Consumption of digital identity transactions occurs when the signer successfully authenticates and applies their signature.
In most cases, the customer's relationship with their IdPs is external to the Acrobat Sign system so there is no tracking of the consumption rate nor the number of signatures that remain available to the customer within the Acrobat Sign interface. Customers must contact the IdP directly for this type of information.
VIP customers that have purchased Aadhaar transactions through Adobe can review their total available transactions on the Digital Signatures tab of the admin menu by selecting the Track Usage link:
Agreements that are canceled after a signature is applied do not refund the transaction back to the account.
Because transactions are consumed when the signature is applied, it is possible to send more requests for signature than the account has available. If a signer attempts to apply a signature when there are no transactions available to the account, an error is generated, indicating the service is not available:
History and Audit Report
Digital signatures are explicitly identified in both the agreement history and the audit report. The audit report captures additional information about the specific IdP involved:
Best Practices and Considerations
Unless you have a compliance requirement to always capture digital signatures, it's likely a good idea to configure your documents such that internal signers do not apply digital signatures. This will save your internal signers time in the signature process and the company resources in terms of the premium identity transactions from your IdP.
Configuration
Digital Signatures allow for the independent configuration of groups to leverage if digital signatures are required and from what vendors they should be accepted.
Seperate controls exist for external signers if it is determined that external signers should have different signature requirements.
Availability:
Digital Signatures are available to all tiers of service.
Configuration scope:
The feature can be enabled at the account and group levels.
To enable, navigate to Account Settings > Digital Signatures
Enable signers to import their digital signature from one or more sources:
- Download and Sign With Acrobat - Allows the signer to use a self-certified signature.
- Cloud Signatures - Enables the option to use a cloud-based digital signatures for your signers, which makes digital signing also possible on mobile devices
- If digital signatures are important to your signing process, enabling the cloud-based option is strongly recommended.
Select the digital signature providers you will accept. Only options selected will be available to signers.
You can define a preferred vendor, which sets that vendor as the default.
- If only one vendor is allowed, the selection process is bypassed during the signature process
Aadhaar signatures
Aadhaar signatures are available to enterprise accounts at an additional per-signature cost, which must be configured prior to use.
Customers that need to obtain Aadhaar signatures can contact their Success Manager or their Sales contact to discuss volume and start the configuration process.
External signers are defined as any email address not within your Acrobat Sign account.
- Internal signers being all of the users defined within your Acrobat Sign account
If you would like to create a different signature experience for external signers vs internal, you can enable a second set of the above options that apply only to external signers.
For example, you may want to be more permissive in the signature vendors for external signers, or provide different instructions for how to obtain a signature for internal signers.
Cloud signatures from Aadhaar through Acrobat Sign
Customers that manage their users on the Adobe Admin Console and are under a VIP license can purchase cloud signature identity transactions through Adobe. These transactions are used exclusively by the Acrobat Sign product, so consumption tracking is available to admins at any time in the admin menu.
Customers interested in acquiring Aadhaar transactions should contact their sales representative, success manager, or technical account manager to start the process.
Once transactions are purchased, the account is configured to expose the Aadhaar option on the Digital Signatures tab of the admin menu. Admins can enable the Aadhaar option at the account and group levels as needed.
Notification emails are delivered to the administrators on the Admin Console when consumption reaches 75%, 85%, 90%, 95% and 100% of total purchase quantity.
