Electronic records and signatures disclosure

Before your first signature, you are asked to affirmatively agree to conduct that transaction electronically and to receive records electronically. Until you do, no signature is captured. Your agreement is recorded with the date, time, IP address and browser details, and forms part of the audit trail described in clause 12.

By agreeing, you accept that an electronic signature you apply has the same legal effect as a handwritten signature in the jurisdictions listed in clause 10, and that an electronic record satisfies any requirement that the document be provided to you in writing.

Your consent covers, and is limited to:

• The specific document you were sent, and every record, notice and disclosure relating to it.
• The certificate of completion and audit trail generated for that document.
• Any reminder, expiry, completion or cancellation notice sent to you about that document.

Consent is per document. Agreeing to sign one document electronically does not commit you to sign any future document electronically, and it does not create an account or an ongoing relationship with DropTheDoc.

To access, sign and retain electronic records you need all of the following. There is nothing to install.

• A device with an internet connection.
• A current version of a mainstream browser, meaning a version of Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari released within roughly the last two years, with JavaScript and cookies enabled.
• An active email account, and the ability to receive email from us without it being blocked or filtered.
• The ability to view, download and save or print PDF files.
• Enough storage on your device, or a printer, if you want to keep your own copy.

If these requirements change in a way that creates a material risk that you will not be able to access or retain your records, we will tell you and give you the chance to withdraw your consent without any fee, condition or consequence beyond being unable to complete the document electronically.

You always have the right to receive the document on paper instead of electronically, and to request a paper copy after signing.

DropTheDoc does not print or post documents. Request a paper copy from the person or organisation who sent you the document, because they hold the relationship with you and control the document. They may charge you for it. DropTheDoc does not charge you a fee for downloading, saving or printing your own copy, which you can do at any time while your access link is valid, and from any copy emailed to you on completion.

You may withdraw your consent to sign or transact electronically at any time, before or after signing, at no cost.

1. Before you sign, close the document and tell the sender directly that you want to proceed on paper. You may also use the decline option in the signing screen, which records your decision and notifies the sender.
2. After you sign, contact the sender. Withdrawal is not retroactive: it does not undo a signature you have already applied, and it does not by itself cancel the underlying agreement. Whether the agreement can be undone is a matter between you and the other parties to it.

The consequence of withdrawing consent is that the document cannot be completed through DropTheDoc. The sender may or may not offer you an alternative. We cannot offer one on their behalf.

Documents and notices are sent to the email address the sender entered for you. If that address is wrong or stops working you will not receive them.

DropTheDoc cannot change the email address on a document that has already been sent, because doing so would let anyone redirect someone else's contract. Ask the sender to cancel the document and reissue it to the correct address. If you hold a DropTheDoc account, you can update your own address in account settings, which affects future documents sent to you, not documents already in flight.

1. The sender emails you a link that is unique to you and to that document. The link is single-use and is revoked once you finish, or if the document is cancelled or expires.
2. You review the document, and you agree to this disclosure.
3. You apply your signature by drawing it, typing it, or uploading an image of it, and you complete any other fields assigned to you.
4. You confirm. Only at that point is your signature applied to the document. Until you confirm, nothing is recorded as signed.
5. When every party has signed, the completed PDF is flattened, hashed and made available to everyone involved, together with the certificate of completion.

Drawing, typing or uploading a signature all have the same legal effect. The visual appearance of a signature is not what makes it binding. What makes it binding is that you intended to sign, and the record of that intention.

An electronic signature is legally effective because it is applied by a person who intends to sign and is logically associated with the record being signed. DropTheDoc is built around both requirements: signing takes a deliberate, separate confirmation step, and every signature is bound to a specific document version by its hash.

A signature is attributed to you if it was applied through the link sent to your email address. Protect access to your email account. If you believe someone signed a document using a link sent to you, contact the sender immediately and tell us at security@dropthedoc.xyz.

For every document, DropTheDoc records the following. This is what makes a signature defensible, so it cannot be switched off for a document that is in progress.

Because each entry includes the hash of the previous one, removing, inserting or altering any event breaks every hash after it. The chain is recomputed whenever a document is opened or a certificate is generated, so tampering shows up rather than passing quietly.

This clause matters more than any other on this page. Read it before relying on DropTheDoc for a high-value or contested document.

DropTheDoc produces what EU law calls a simple electronic signature: data in electronic form, attached to or logically associated with other data, which the signatory uses to sign. Under Article 25(1) of Regulation (EU) 910/2014 (eIDAS), a signature of this kind cannot be denied legal effect or admissibility in evidence merely because it is electronic. That is the protection it carries, and it is a real one.

In practical terms, our signatures are uniquely linked to the signatory's recorded identifiers, capable of identifying them through the audit trail, and linked to the signed data so that any later change is detectable. What they cannot demonstrate to a qualified standard is sole control of the signing credential. That distinction is what separates a simple signature from an advanced one, and we would rather say so here than have you discover it in a dispute.

DropTheDoc is operated from India, so the Indian position deserves its own clause rather than a footnote.

Electronic records and electronic contracts are valid in India. Section 4 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 gives legal recognition to electronic records where a law requires information to be in writing. Section 10A confirms that a contract is not unenforceable merely because it was formed through electronic means. The Indian Contract Act, 1872 does not prescribe a form for most contracts, so a contract concluded by exchanging electronic acceptance is generally binding.

The practical consequence: if the authenticity of a DropTheDoc signature is challenged in an Indian court, you prove it the ordinary way, by producing the audit trail, the certificate of completion and the document hashes as evidence, rather than relying on a presumption that the signature is genuine. Our audit trail is designed for exactly that, but the burden sits with you rather than with the person disputing it.

Electronic records produced as evidence in India must be accompanied by a certificate under section 63 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023, which replaced section 65B of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872. The certificate of completion described in clause 13 contains the underlying technical facts you need, but it is not itself a section 63 certificate: that has to be signed by a person occupying a responsible official position in relation to the device or system, and by an expert, in the form the statute prescribes. Ask us at legal@dropthedoc.xyz if you need supporting information for one.

Where a matter is high value, likely to be contested, or has to be registered or stamped, use a Digital Signature Certificate or an Aadhaar e-sign through a licensed provider instead of, or in addition to, DropTheDoc. Stamp duty obligations under the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 and the corresponding state legislation apply to electronic instruments as they do to paper, and DropTheDoc does not pay, compute or affix stamp duty for you.

DropTheDoc is built to meet the general requirements of the frameworks below. This table describes the law, not a guarantee about your particular document, and it is not legal advice.

In India, the IT Act does not apply to the following, under section 1(4) and the First Schedule:

• A negotiable instrument other than a cheque, as defined in section 13 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881.
• A power-of-attorney as defined in section 1A of the Powers-of-Attorney Act, 1882.
• A trust as defined in section 3 of the Indian Trusts Act, 1882.
• A will as defined in section 2(h) of the Indian Succession Act, 1925, including any other testamentary disposition.
• Any contract for the sale or conveyance of immovable property, or any interest in such property.

In the United States, ESIGN section 103 excludes, among others:

• Wills, codicils and testamentary trusts.
• Adoption, divorce and other matters of family law.
• The Uniform Commercial Code, other than sections 1-107 and 1-206 and Articles 2 and 2A.
• Court orders, notices and official court documents.
• Notices of cancellation or termination of utility services.
• Notices of default, acceleration, repossession, foreclosure or eviction under a credit agreement secured by, or a rental agreement for, a primary residence.
• Notices of cancellation or termination of health or life insurance benefits.
• Recall notices, or notices of material failure of a product, that risk endangering health or safety.
• Documents required to accompany the transport or handling of hazardous materials, pesticides or other dangerous materials.

Elsewhere, eIDAS does not override national law on the formal requirements for concluding contracts, so member states keep their own rules. Many jurisdictions additionally require notarisation, witnessing, registration or a qualified signature for real property, wills, succession, family law, certain corporate filings and certain court documents.

You are responsible for determining whether your document may lawfully be signed electronically where you and every recipient are located. If you are not sure, ask a lawyer before you send it, not after.

When every party has signed, DropTheDoc generates a certificate of completion and makes it available to the sender and to every recipient. It lists the document identifier and title, every party with their name, email address, role and signing order, the SHA-256 hash of both the original and the completed file, and the complete audit trail with timestamps, IP addresses and browser details.

The completed PDF is flattened, so form fields become part of the page and cannot be edited back into blank fields, and each page is stamped with the document identifier.

Keep your own copy. The certificate is your evidence, and it is most useful when you can produce it independently of us.

DropTheDoc verifies that a signature was applied through a unique link delivered to a specific email address, and records the technical context around it. That is access control, not identity verification.

We do not check government identity documents, we do not perform know-your-customer checks, we do not verify that the person holding an email account is who the sender believes them to be, and we do not verify that a signer has authority to bind an organisation. Where identity assurance matters, verify it outside DropTheDoc before you send, or use a signature method that carries statutory identity assurance, such as a Digital Signature Certificate or Aadhaar e-sign in India.

Completed documents, certificates and audit trails are retained for as long as the sender's workspace exists, because that evidence is the point of the product. Retention, deletion and export are described in the privacy policy.

Signing links stop working once you have signed, or once the document is cancelled or expires, so download your copy when you finish rather than relying on the link later. If you lose your copy, ask the sender.

A dispute about whether an agreement is binding is between the parties to it. DropTheDoc is not a party, does not arbitrate and does not take a position on the merits.

What we can do is produce the record. On a valid request from a party to the document, or on lawful process, we can supply the certificate of completion, the audit trail and the stored hashes, and confirm whether the hash chain verifies. Contact legal@dropthedoc.xyz.