Signing Documents on the Dotted (online) line

In addition to my own posts, I also write for CloudTweaks, an authority on cloud computing. My most recent post covers the new, highly convenient and secure world of signing documents online. There are quite a few cloud-based companies that offer this service, and it allows people one more good reason to put the fax machine away.

Here is an excerpt:

One area where the virtual world of the cloud leads to a sense of discomfort has to do with signing documents and contracts. For centuries, the binding value of an agreement was based on an individual�s capacity to sign his or her name at the bottom � a visual and permanent testament to a person�s consent to the terms of the agreement. Prior to the age of the fax machine, these documents were signed and then transported by courier or mail, but this changed once it became possible to enforce contracts based on a document�s own digital facsimile.

Today, in a world where almost everything is accessible instantly via the cloud, the act of physically printing a document in order to sign it, scan it and fax it back seems dated and time-consuming, and to that end a number of online solutions have appeared that allow individuals to append a graphic signature to an electronic document such as a PDF or Microsoft Word file.

To read more, please click here.