How to validate signed documents
Dokobit is an eIDAS-certified service provider for qualified e-signature and e-seal validations. This means that in our portal, you can easily confirm the legitimacy of e-signatures and e-seals by using our validation tool for your documents in accordance with the eIDAS Regulation (Regulation (EU) N°910/2014).
More information on the eIDAS regulation can be found here.
In this article:
Briefly about the service
According to eIDAS regulation, validation is a supplementary service for electronic signatures and seals. It shows whether the signature or seal was valid from the time of their creation up until the moment of validation. In other words, you will need to validate already e-signed or e-sealed documents received from other parties to make sure the signatures or seals in them are valid.
There are two types of electronic signatures and seals you can validate – Advanced and Qualified. Advanced electronic signatures and seals with Qualified certificates are considered strong evidence in legal proceedings; meanwhile, Qualified electronic signatures and seals comply with the highest eIDAS regulation requirements and therefore have indisputable legal force.
In the Dokobit portal, you can choose whether you would like to validate both Advanced and Qualified electronic signatures and seals in the document or only Qualified electronic signatures and seals. If you choose the first option, it is a less strict validation, where Advanced signatures will be recognized as valid, and the second option is stricter, where only Qualified signatures will be recognized as valid. You can validate document signatures backed by certificates issued within any EU/EEA member state.
As a Qualified Trust Service Provider, we hold full responsibility for the validation results we provide and offer liability assurance for you in case of discrepancies. This means that you can choose between different liability assurance levels according to your needs. In the portal, you will find two levels: Basic liability and Advanced liability. Basic liability is right for you if minimum assurance is enough, usually in cases when the validity of signatures or seals is not likely to raise disputes. Advanced liability is more suitable if you want more assurance for the validity of signatures or seals, usually in cases when the documents are of higher value.
Note: Advanced liability option is only available for "Business" and "Enterprise" plan users, and each advanced liability validation costs 0,50 EUR + VAT.
You can find more information about the validation of e-signatures and e-seals in our FAQ section.
How to validate a document
1. Log in to the portal and click on the "Validate document" section located at the very top of the page.
2. Click on the button "New validation".
If you have not yet uploaded any documents for validation, you will see the following screen:
If you have already uploaded at least one document for validation beforehand, you will see it listed here:
3. Here you can upload a document for validation.
There are three ways to add a document to this section: you can drag and drop it in the upload area, or you can either click on the upload area or the "Browse" button to locate a file from your computer.
Note: Documents can be uploaded and validated only one at a time.
4. Select a validation policy.
In this section, you can choose what kind of signatures and seals should be considered valid on your signed documents – Advanced and Qualified or Qualified only.
5. Select a liability level.
The liability level defines the assurance of responsibility taken up by Dokobit as a Qualified Validation Service Provider.
Note: Basic liability is available to all users; however, advanced liability needs to be enabled by the account owner first before it can be selected. After it is unlocked, the account owner or admin can set the default validation report liability level for all company users. A detailed how-to guide for default company settings is available here.
6. Click the "Validate" button.
7. Please wait until your validation report is generated.
How to review a validation report
8. When the validation report is generated, it will be opened automatically, and you will be able to review it instantly.
9. In the "Overview" section, you will be able to see if the signatures and/or seals in this document are valid, the validation time, and which validation policy was selected for this document.
10. In the "Signatures" section, all signatures contained in this document will be visible. To see the full signature information, simply click on the signature you want to check.
11. In the "Details" section, you will find additional information, such as validation report ID, validated document hash, and the liability level that was chosen for this validation report. You will also be able to download diagnostic data in XML format and a detailed validation report.
How to download a validation report
12. When the validation report is generated, it will be opened automatically, and you will be able to download it right away. To download the validation report to your device, simply click the "Download report" button located in the upper right corner.
13. You will also be able to download the detailed validation report. Select the "Details" section and click the "Download detailed report" link.
