Electronic Signatures vs. Digital Signatures: What's the Difference

These two terms get used interchangeably, but they mean genuinely different things — and knowing the difference makes you sound like the smartest person in the compliance meeting. 

Electronic Signature: The Legal Act 

An electronic signature is your intent to sign, captured electronically. Drawing your name on a touchscreen, typing it in a script font, clicking "I agree" — these are all electronic signatures. Laws like the ESIGN Act and eIDAS govern when they're legally valid, and they're what makes your Inkfree agreements enforceable. 

Digital Signature: The Cryptographic Seal 

A digital signature is a mathematical technique — a cryptographic fingerprint applied to a document that proves two things: who sealed it, and that not a single byte has changed since. It's a security technology, not a legal concept. 

Inkfree Gives You Both 

Here's the good news: you don't have to choose. 

1.  The signing experience captures a legally valid electronic signature — intent, identity, and consent, all recorded in the audit trail. 

2.  When the request completes, Inkfree applies digital signature technology to seal the final document, so any tampering after completion is detectable. 

The result: agreements that are both legally binding and technically tamper-proof.