Are third party e contract platforms reliable?

This issue depends on the negotiation between the two parties, and if both parties comply, then if the other party does not admit it, whether the third-party platform is protected by law needs to consult a lawyer or the court.

There are many other benefits to companies signing contracts through third-party e-signing platforms:

1. Improve the efficiency of contract signing.

One of the major features of electronic contract signing** is that it is convenient and efficient. In the case of the Internet, users can quickly sign electronic contracts through various channels such as PC, APP, WeChat, Alipay, etc., eliminating the cumbersome process of face-to-face signing or express signing of traditional offline paper contracts.

2. Save operating costs for enterprises.

Electronic contracts, signing, management, and storage are all completed, eliminating the consumption of paper contract printing materials, as well as the expenditure of various costs such as manpower, logistics, and warehousing, which can help enterprises greatly save contract management operating costs.

3. Ensure the security of electronic contract storage.

Electronic contracts are transmitted in encrypted form and stored in the cloud, which can effectively ensure the legitimacy and integrity of electronic contracts. Taking the electronic signing platform of Fada as an example, the electronic contract of Fada adopts encryption technology and blockchain evidence preservation technology, which can ensure that the storage process of the electronic contract is not tampered with, zero data loss and other characteristics, and the digital fingerprint information of the electronic contract such as the signing time, the signing subject, and the document hash value of the electronic contract will be broadcast to the respective nodes of all members of the "legal chain", and once all the information is stored, no party can tamper with it, which fully meets the requirements of judicial preservation of electronic evidence.

4. The third-party electronic signing platform is more credible.

Imagine that as a party to the contract, the enterprise is both the signatory and the custodian of the contract, which will inevitably lead to suspicion and question the authenticity of the electronic contract data. As a neutral third party, the third-party electronic signing platform does not intervene in any contract content, which can ensure the security and authenticity of the data, and the evidence provided is more credible. At the same time, the use of third-party electronic signing platforms is also in line with the requirements of laws and regulations.

5. The third-party electronic signing platform can provide perfect legal services.

In addition to providing functions such as electronic contract signing, contract, and contract management, the third-party electronic signing platform also has the technology to issue certificates, and when a dispute arises between the two parties to the contract, the third-party electronic signing platform can also provide a complete set of evidence chain to ensure the legitimate rights and interests of both parties to the contract dispute. Taking Fada's electronic signing platform as an example, Fada can provide users with legal consultation, evidence preservation and issuance, judicial appraisal, online arbitration and other legal services to help users efficiently resolve contract disputes.

The introduction of a third-party e-signing platform can not only help enterprises to sign and manage contracts efficiently, but also improve the legal services and brand awareness of the third-party e-signing platform, which can also play a role in the transformation and digitalization of enterprises and the establishment of a good corporate image.

Different from traditional contracts, electronic contracts need to ensure their legal validity through relevant technical means, such as how to confirm the identity and willingness of the subject with signatures and seals, how to prevent documents from being tampered with, and how to accurately record the time of signing. In this regard, the Electronic Signature Law also has clear provisions.

Article 13: Where an electronic signature meets the following conditions at the same time, it is deemed to be a reliable electronic signature:

1) When the data for the creation of electronic signatures is used for electronic signatures, it is the exclusive property of the electronic signatory;

2) At the time of signing, the electronic signature creation data is controlled only by the electronic signer;

3) any alteration of the electronic signature after signing can be detected;

iv)that any changes to the content and form of the data message after signature can be detected.

Parties may also choose to use electronic signatures that meet the reliable conditions they have agreed upon.

Article 14: Reliable electronic signatures have the same legal effect as handwritten signatures or seals.

Therefore, electronic signatures and seals are not just as simple as visual appearance, and it is difficult for individuals and ordinary enterprises to meet these requirements, and third-party electronic contract platforms have come into being. The core technologies for the realization of legally effective electronic contracts are generally as follows:

Authoritative authentication system: the use of national agency authentication technology to ensure the true identity of the electronic contract signatory;

Anti-tampering technology: The international universal hash value technology is used to solidify the original electronic file data, and it is easy to identify whether the file has been tampered with;

Third-party timing technology: accurately record the contract time.

In addition, the excellent third-party electronic signing platform can bring greater convenience and security, and at the same time can provide users with perfect legal services such as certification reports, judicial appraisals, and online arbitration, providing greater convenience for individuals or enterprises to deal with contract disputes.

Regarding this issue, the author believes that we should look at it from two levels:

First of all, the electronic contract referred to here needs to be on a third-party platform, and the author believes that it mainly refers to the storage of data messages for electronic contracts. Electronic contract data should be stored on a credible third-party platform, mainly from the perspective of the security and credibility of the contract data.

If the signatory and custodian of the contract are the same person, then when disputes arise in the future, the contract will inevitably be tampered with as direct evidence of dispute resolution. Therefore, Article 8 of the Electronic Signature Law sets out the criteria for reviewing the authenticity of electronic contract data as evidence, and the following factors shall be comprehensively considered:

1. Reliability of methods for generating, storing or transmitting data messages;

2. Maintain the reliability of the content integrity method;

3. The reliability of the method used to identify the sender;

4. Other relevant factors.

Based on the above analysis, electronic contracts need to be stored on a third-party platform.

Secondly, it is the explanation of the use of third-party platform services, which refers to electronic contract signing services on the one hand, and identity authentication services on the other. In the process of signing electronic contracts, it is necessary to verify that "you are you" through a series of technical means.

Article 16 of the Electronic Signature Law: Where an electronic signature requires third-party authentication, the legally-established electronic certification service provider shall provide the authentication service. So, does the third-party electronic contract platform also have the qualification to provide electronic certification services?

In order to provide identity authentication services in a more timely and efficient manner, authoritative CA certification authorities will authorize qualified third-party electronic contract providers to apply for and call CA identity authentication services, so as to have the ability to provide identity authentication services to contract signatories (i.e., RA: registration authority, digital certificate registration and approval authority). RA is an extension of CA's certificate issuance management, which is responsible for the information entry, review and certificate issuance of certificate applicants, and completes the corresponding management functions for the issued certificates.

Combining the above two points, whether it is the signing of electronic contracts, identity authentication, or the storage of data messages, enterprises and organizations can choose a reliable third-party electronic contract platform to sign a legally valid electronic contract.

An electronic contract concluded through a third-party electronic signing platform and signed using reliable electronic signature technology is a legal and valid electronic contract.

The Electronic Signature Law clearly stipulates that "reliable electronic signatures have the same legal effect as handwritten signatures or seals", and "if electronic signatures require third-party authentication, the certification services shall be provided by an electronic certification service provider established in accordance with the law".

If an enterprise builds a set of online electronic signing platform by itself, it not only needs to meet a number of technical standards, but also has high cost, long cycle, time-consuming and labor-intensive, which is also contrary to the original intention of the enterprise to speed up and reduce costs through online signing.

Therefore, the use of a third-party e-signing platform not only complies with the provisions of the law, but also strictly follows the requirements of the Electronic Signature Law, which can lock the true identity of the contracting entity, prevent document tampering, and accurately record the signing time, so that the electronic contract has the same legal effect as a handwritten signature or seal.

Because the electronic platform can provide customers with security and utility guarantee from the aspects of standardization and reliability

As a service-oriented platform for electronic contract signing, its main users are contracted users and notary publics. The contracted user refers to the parties to the contract who complete the upload and signing of the electronic contract through the transmission interface. Notaries mainly provide electronic contract verification and notarization services through the data information of the electronic contract signing process stored in the notary service subsystem.

Among them, the contracted user needs to perform identity authentication when logging in to the platform to verify that the user account is used by himself, effectively preventing the risk of fraudulent use of the identity of the contracted user. Electronic contracts are encrypted through digital signature technology to ensure the security of electronic contract transmission. The notary service subsystem only records the process information of electronic contract signing, and does not involve the content of electronic contracts, so as to realize the confidentiality of electronic contracts.

In addition, the platform also includes system administrators, who mainly carry out daily monitoring and operation and maintenance of the system.

Our products comply with the Electronic Signature Law, and when users sign contracts on the Chengda Sign electronic signing platform, they have verified the authenticity of the user's identity and passed the digital certificate issued by a formal licensed CA institution.

Even if a large enterprise with strong technical strength can establish an electronic contract signing and preservation system on its own, it is inevitable that it will fall into the dilemma of self-proof when it comes to adducing evidence in future litigation because of its complete control over the system. Therefore, the current more popular practice is still to rely on the power of third-party institutions - such asPencil caseSuch a fully qualified, legal and compliant electronic contract platform.

Excellent third-party electronic contract platform with the following five security technologies:

1. Data encryption and decryption technology.

The most basic network security implementation technology is mainly divided into four types: data transmission, data storage, data integrity identification and key management technology. It is used to solve the encryption processing in the transmission and storage process of electronic contracts. The user can only decrypt the key if he holds the key.

The sender encrypts the message, transmits it to the receiver, who decrypts the message with its own and the other party's keys, and finally receives the complete message.

2. Digital signature technology.

It refers to the data contained in electronic form in the data message, attached to the data used to identify the identity of the signatory and indicate that the signatory recognizes the content therein, used to solve the identity problem of the electronic contract, focusing on solving the authentication problem of the user, and the scientific basis is the non-repeatability of the file hash value generated by the hash algorithm, and the use of asymmetric encryption algorithm.

3. Timestamp technology.

Through certain technical means, the time of data generation is authenticated, so as to verify whether this data has been tampered with after it is generated, and is used to solve the problem of fixing the time and signed content of the electronic contract, so that any change in its content can be verified and discovered, which is helpful to form non-repudiatory evidence, which is used to affix in the header of the electronic contract, determine the writing time of the contract, and also make the electronic contract have the nature of time series.

4. Digital certificate security certification.

Even if the ID card of an individual or unit on the network, the digital certificate is currently the most mature and widely used information security technology in the world, which solves a series of problems such as the identity of network actors and information security through authoritative technology, and establishes an effective trust mechanism on the Internet based on cryptography and the use of digital signatures, digital envelopes, timestamp services and other technologies.

5. Electronic management of archiving.

The original text and feature information of the electronic contract shall be preserved, and an effective legal report shall be issued in the event of a dispute, and the identity information, behavior information, and hash summary of the original content shall be uploaded to the blockchain of the third-party evidence preservation agency.

In short, with these five security technologies, enterprises can rest assured that they can sign electronic contracts on third-party electronic contract platforms, and now electronic contracts are not limited to the Internet industry, but have entered many application scenarios in various fields, which is a powerful tool for reducing costs and increasing efficiency in various industries.

From the legal validity of the platform's electronic contract, the platform's security mechanism, and the platform's services, we can deeply analyze how enterprises should choose the appropriate electronic contract.

1. See whether the electronic contract is legal and valid.

Generally speaking, an effective electronic contract requires the following two conditions: 1) the parties to the contract have undergone real-name authentication, and 2) it is a reliable electronic signature recognized in accordance with the Electronic Signature Law. If the above two conditions are met, the electronic contract has the same legal effect as the handwritten signature of the paper contract.

According to the relevant provisions of the Electronic Signature Law, electronic contracts that lock the true identity of the contracting entity, effectively prevent document tampering, and accurately record the time of signing are recognized by law.

Therefore, whether the electronic contract of the third-party electronic contract platform is legal and valid depends on whether it provides reliable electronic signatures, whether it can ensure the true identity of both parties to the contract, accurately record the signing subject, signing time and signing content, and prevent the documents from being tampered with in the process of transmission and storage.

2. Look at the security mechanism of the third-party electronic contract platform.

Electronic contracts involve the trade secrets of enterprises, so it is particularly important for third-party electronic contract platforms to provide security for data transmission and storage, which is also one of the important factors that enterprises cannot ignore when choosing third-party electronic contract platforms.

As a reliable third-party electronic contract platform, the platform must have a strong data encryption solution to ensure that the contract data is not illegally stolen and tampered with during the transmission process. In terms of contract storage, the platform should be able to provide sufficient security storage solutions to ensure the security of data and prevent the leakage and loss of file data.

3. Check whether the services of the third-party electronic contract platform are perfect.

When it comes to contracts, people inevitably think of a series of behaviors such as contracts, signing, management, storage, and disputes. If the services of the electronic contract platform can achieve a closed loop and provide a complete set of solutions such as contract signing, contract management, contract depository, and judicial appraisal, then all hidden dangers in the use of electronic contracts can basically be eliminated.

Therefore, when choosing a third-party electronic contract platform, enterprises can refer to the above three dimensions and combine their own needs to choose the most suitable electronic contract.