What is an evidentiary document?

What is an evidentiary document? When we carry out a transaction digitally, it is essential to be certain that the entire process must be properly recorded and audited to ensure that we comply with certain minimum requirements that guarantee the legality of our transactions.

In this article we will see what an evidentiary document consists of, what information it contains, its main uses and how it can be obtained.

What is the evidentiary document or audit trail?

The audit trail is a compilation of all the information of the signature process, both the history and the set of signatures and electronic evidence that have been collected and that guarantee that it is legally binding in case of repudiation.

Electronic signatures supported by an evidentiary document serve, among other things, to help prove their authenticity more easily. The audit trail attests to when a document was sent, opened and signed, as well as the names, e-mail addresses and unique signature identifiers of the signatories.

What information does the evidentiary document contain?

The following is a summary of the main elements contained in this compilation:

• Summary of the process. Here you will see the name of the company that sent the document to be signed, the unique code of the request and the date and time the request was received and completed.
• Electronic signatures. The type(s) of signature (with or without requiring an electronic certificate, biometric signature or by SMS OTP) used by the signatory in the request is detailed. Before sending the request, the sending company must specify from the tool which signature method is the most suitable.
• Evidences. As above, the electronic evidences added by the signatory (use of check, DNI photo, video, location, telematic identity validation) to complete the process are detailed.
• History of the process. It specifies the date and time of the different actions taken by the parties involved in the petition.

IMPORTANT: All electronic evidences are included as attachments to the signed PDF and in XML format.

How can I get the audit trail?

If the sending company intends to make use of it, in the side menu of our tool you will have access to all completed requests. This is where you will be able to download both the signed document and the audit trail.

On the other hand, if the signatory wishes to visualize the audit trail once the signature request has been completed, he/she must click on the field shown in the image.

Viafirma: sign and send documents to be signed in a simple and legal way

Thanks to our time stamping and the corporate digital certificate that we add to the PDF, from Viafirma we guarantee that, from the moment in which the signatures and electronic evidences were added by the signers, the document cannot be altered later, preserving its integrity and authenticity. In addition, there is the option to include IP addresses or the Machine ID of the devices used to determine more precisely when and where a document was opened and signed.