Digital signatures offer a variety of practicalities and savings for individuals and companies, so it's no wonder that the use of digital signatures is increasingly popular. Unfortunately, many people do not fully understand the types of digital signatures on the market. Because, not all digital signatures have legal strengths and consequences. There have been many cases where the use of digital signatures has even harmed its users simply because they did not use digital signatures that did not meet the regulations.

Legal Due to Invalid Digital Signatures

One case of illegal use of digital signatures occurred in California, United States of America, in 2016. This case happened to Paul Bains, a lawyer who used digital signatures to declare bankruptcy. The digital signature service used by Paul Bains is a well-known entity that has been used by various business networks in America. However, the court determined that the digital signature used by Paul Bains was invalid because the signature was generated only through the 'click to sign' button without going through further authentication processes. The judge considers that anyone can press the button so that the identity of the signatory on the document cannot be ascertained.

Another recent case happened to Brad Levin in Denver. Brad Levin is a Democratic attorney general candidate. To become the attorney general, Levin needed approximately 10,500 signatures on the petition supporting him. However, of the nearly 16,000 signatures collected, signatures deemed valid not up to 9,000 made him fail to advance to attorney general. Officials from the state of Colorado rejected most of the signatures because they could not find the identity and information of the majority of signatories to the petition. Levins also admitted that the signature was not through a digital verification process which could state that his supporters actually signed the petition to support him.

The cases above are examples of the importance of trusted digital signatures, which are able to verify identity so that they can be considered legally valid.

Legal Rules for Digital Signatures in Indonesia

To protect Indonesian citizens when making transactions or making electronic agreements, the government has issued various regulations governing the use of digital signatures. One of these laws, which is the main reference of KOMINFO , is Law Number 11 Year 2008 Article 11 paragraph 1 concerning Information and Electronic Transactions. This law states that electronic signatures have legal strengths and consequences as long as they fulfill certain conditions, specifically:

• Making Electronic Signature Data is only for Signatories.
• Data on making Electronic Signatures during the electronic signing process is only in the power of the Signatory.
• All changes to the Electronic Signature that occur after the time of signing can be known.
• All changes to the Electronic Information related to the Electronic Signature after the time of signing can be known.
• There are certain methods used to identify who the signatory is.
• There are certain ways to show that the Signatory has given approval of the relevant Electronic Information.

When referring to the conditions set by this government, only Advanced and Qualified digital signature providers are capable of having legal strengths and legal consequences like a wet signature in Indonesia.

Choosing Legitimate Digital Signature Services in Indonesia

After learning the 3 types of digital signatures on the market, of course you as a user can already determine for themselves that advanced and qualified digital level signatures are the best choice you have. In Indonesia, certification of advanced and qualified digital level service providers is regulated by the Ministry of Communication and Information. Digital signature service providers who have qualified as advanced and qualified level signature providers will receive the certification of the Electronic Signature Provider provided by Kominfo.