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1. The implementation of an e-signature system must contain some form of technical non-repudiation services to protect the reliability, authenticity, integrity, and usability, as well as the confidentiality, and legitimate use of the electronically-signed information.
2. The technical non-repudiation services (required in number 1 above) should tie the electronic transaction to the individual or entity in a legally-binding way.
3. The electronic signature process should include, as part of its technical non-repudiation services, audit trails that ensure the chain of custody for the transaction. These audit trails should identify the sending location, sending individual or entity, date and time stamp of receipt, and other measures that will ensure the integrity of the document. These audit trails must validate the integrity of the transaction and prove: (1) that the connection between the submitter and NMFS has not been tampered with; and (2) how the document was controlled upon receipt by NMFS....
Evidence of Electronic Signature
Some distinctive mark must be affixed to the original document as evidence of the electronic signature. This outcome has been articulated in the NMFS policy directive 32-110 as "...tie the electronic transaction to the individual or entity in a legally-binding way." In e-signature systems, the distinctive mark is going to be one or more data elements that have been associated with the individual or entity. A simplistic (but inadvisable) example would be to require the signing party to enter their social security number as part of the signing ceremony; the social security number could be considered a distinctive mark and stored in a database table with the document, the date and time of the e-signature, and other contextual data. Binding Document to Identity
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