Contract Sealing

What is contract sealing?

Contract sealing is the process whereby a document is downloaded as a PDF, and the document is sealed.

In simple words, the sealed document cannot be tampered with or changed. It is the Electronic Seal, together with a Time Stamp, that assures that the document has not been tampered with.

Why using contract sealing is beneficial?

Let us say two parties sign a contract, and each of them downloads that document as a PDF. Then, one of the parties changes the content of the contract.

How can it be proven that the original contract was tampered with and that one party changed it? 

When a document is sealed with the Electronic Seal and Time Stamping, and these mechanisms remain intact, all Parties added to the document know that nothing has been changed.

When a user is using Adobe, the following will be displayed on all contracts:

How is a contract sealed?

• After Contractbook users have drafted and signed a contract, they get the option of downloading the document as a PDF.
• When the last signee signs a contract, Contractbook generates the sealed PDF. Everyone who downloads a fully signed contract as a PDF will download that exact same file. The Timestamp will, therefore, be set to the last moment of the signature.
• Contractbook can claim that the content of the document, including the signatures, is true. Then the seal, together with the Timestamp, proves that the document's content has not been changed since because of the secure Time stamp, which shows the passage of time.

Does the contract sealing affect the Signature in any way?

No. The signature used to sign the document is not affected by the sealing.

When a contract is sealed, we merely ensure that it has not been changed in any way. This means if the contract is signed using SMS verification, the sealing of the document will not change its validity in any way.

The technical part of sealing contracts

When Contractbook seals a document, two services are needed:

1. Qualified certificate for electronic seal
2. A Time-Stamping service

Qualified certificate for electronic seal

• According to the eIDAS recital (59), “Electronic seals should serve as evidence that an electronic document was issued by a legal person, ensuring certainty of the document’s origin and integrity.”
• A Qualified Certificate for Electronic Seal is issued by a trust service provider (TSP).
• The TSP Contractbook used for its Qualified Certificate for Electronic Seal is called Buypass.

A Time-stamping service

• Contractbook uses a Qualified Time Stamp issued by Certum and is valid in all EU states.
• Do you want to learn more about digital document sealing in your business? Here is a link to our blog section dedicated to that.

If you still need additional information or assistance, reach out to us at any time by contacting our Support Team.