Portant Docs
Homepage Install in HubSpot Start for free

eSignature laws by country and region

Portant provides simple electronic signatures (SES). It does not provide advanced (AES) or qualified (QES) electronic signatures, and it does not verify a signer's identity. Anyone with a signing link can sign, including someone a recipient forwards the request email to. Keep sensitive requests to recipients you trust.

The laws on these pages generally recognize electronic signatures. In most cases, an electronic signature cannot be refused legal effect only because it is electronic. How far that rule goes, and the conditions on it, differ by country. Each country page gives the exact rule.

Most of these laws also exclude some documents, or require a stronger form of signature for them, such as wills, some property deeds and court documents. In the EU, each member state sets these rules, not eIDAS. In the US, Canada and Australia, the rules can also differ by state, territory or province. Each country page names the law and the documents it excludes.

This page is general information, not legal advice. For regulated or high-value documents, check with a lawyer in the country that applies.

What Portant records

  • Intent to sign. In every signing flow, the signer ticks "I understand that this is a legal representation of my signature" before they sign. This confirms intent to sign. It is not the consumer consent the US E-SIGN Act requires. Portant has no E-SIGN consumer consent and disclosure flow, so where US consumer law applies, give those disclosures and get consent yourself.
  • Audit trail. On paid plans (Pro, Team and Enterprise), Portant can add an audit page to the end of the signed PDF. It works for workflow signature requests, signing links and PDFs uploaded on the Signatures tab. Turn on the Audit trail toggle before you send the request. It cannot be added to a PDF that is already signed. The Free plan does not include it. See Audit trail.
  • What the audit page shows. The filename, when and by whom the document was created, the document ID, date format, time zone and status. Then a document history: when the signable document was created, each time a recipient opened it and each signature (with email, date and time, IP address, approximate IP location and device), and when the signable document was completed.
  • Checking a signed PDF. Anyone can check a signed PDF at sign.portant.co. The check confirms only whether the file is an unchanged Portant document. It does not show who signed, when, or from where.
  • Copies and storage. Each signer can get a copy of the signed PDF when you turn on signature receipts. The signed PDF is saved where your workflow sends its outputs, for example the HubSpot record, SharePoint or OneDrive, Google Drive, or Portant hosting.
  • Hosting. Portant hosts data on Google Cloud Platform (GCP). See the Data Protection Addendum.

By country