We never see your document — unless you ask someone else to sign it.

Your document stays with you

When you sign your own PDF, the file never leaves your browser — no upload, no server contact, no transmission. Signing happens on your device, using JavaScript libraries that run in the browser (the same kind of technology as an in-browser image editor).

• The PDF is displayed and edited directly in your browser — the same way a photo editor that runs entirely on your own machine handles an image.
• Your signature (drawn or uploaded as an image) is only saved on your device if you explicitly allow it — and then stays local in your browser, never on our server.
• The finished, signed PDF is also assembled right in your browser. You download it directly or share it yourself — we never see it.

Your document never leaves your screen — from the first view to the final download.

What happens when you share a document

If you want someone else to sign, the PDF briefly needs to sit on our server — that's the only way the link can work. But: at the latest 7 days after creation, it's automatically and irreversibly deleted, whether or not it was signed.

• Automatic deletion after 7 days — no user action, no request, no waiting period. A daily automated process cleans up.
• Deletion covers both the file AND the associated database entry (status, creator's email address). After that, the link simply stops existing — it leads to a clear "document expired" page, not an error.
• One tiny, content-free record deliberately survives: a checksum (hash) of the finished document, so you or someone else can later prove that a specific file was indeed signed via SignSent — without us having to keep your contract's contents around for that (more under "Verify authenticity").

What we never store

No account means: there's nothing for us to build a profile out of. Specifically, we never store the following:

• User accounts or passwords — there's no login, so there are no credentials to lose.
• Your signature images on our server — if saved at all, they stay local in your browser only.
• Tracking data or analytics cookies that identify you across sessions — there are no trackers on this site.
• The email address of someone you send a document to for signing — it's only passed through to our email delivery service to send the invitation, and never stored anywhere on our end afterward.
• Document contents beyond the 7-day window — after that, only the content-free checksum remains, no text, no image, no signature.

What we do store, briefly, for accountability reasons (transparency instead of silence): your own email address (only for the "finished signing" notification, deleted with the document after 7 days) and a truncated IP address on the signed document's audit page (last octet, or last 80 bits for IPv6, removed) — as part of the legal evidence trail, not for tracking.

Link security: why your link can't be guessed

Instead of a login, the link itself is the key — like a private text paste. Whoever has the link can open the document; whoever doesn't has no realistic way to guess it.

• Every link contains a random ID with 128 bits of entropy — more possible combinations than there are grains of sand on Earth. No guessing or brute-forcing will get anyone there.
• We additionally guard against automated guessing attempts: too many requests against a wrong ID get actively throttled.
• The document never sits at a publicly reachable address. Every access goes through our server, which checks whether the link is valid and not yet expired — there is no direct, permanent URL to the file.

Important to know: whoever has the link gets in — just like a shared Google Docs link. Only share the link through a channel you trust (e.g. an email or chat that only the right person reads).

Legal validity: what this signature is — and isn't

SignSent creates a Simple Electronic Signature (SES) under the EU eIDAS Regulation (Art. 25). This is the most common form of electronic signature and is sufficient for most contracts that have no specific form requirement.

What this means: the signature is legally recognized as a declaration of intent and may be used as evidence in court. We provide additional evidence (timestamp, hash, truncated IP address — see "Verify authenticity") that helps reconstruct the process in a dispute.

What a Simple Electronic Signature is NOT suited for

Contracts for which EU/German law explicitly requires handwritten written form (comparable to § 126a of the German Civil Code and similar provisions), for example:

• Terminating an employment relationship or termination agreements
• Suretyship/guarantee declarations
• Consumer loan agreements
• Fixed-term employment contracts (written-form requirement under German law)
• Contracts requiring notarization (e.g. real estate purchase)

These cases require a Qualified Electronic Signature (QES) or a physical signature — SignSent does not currently offer QES.

What a Simple Electronic Signature is well suited for

Most everyday contracts for which the law prescribes no specific form: service agreements, freelance/project contracts, NDAs, general terms and conditions, quotes and order confirmations, rental agreements for movable property, internal agreements.

When in doubt: ask a lawyer whether your specific contract requires written form. This page does not replace legal advice. (This section describes EU/German law — eIDAS and the German Civil Code; rules may differ where you are.)

Verify authenticity

Anyone can check whether a PDF was actually signed via SignSent — no login required, even long after the original has been deleted.

• When signing, we calculate a unique checksum (SHA-256 hash) of the finished document — a digital fingerprint that changes completely with even the smallest change to the PDF.
• This fingerprint stays permanently stored in our verification database — even after the document itself is deleted after 7 days. It contains no content at all, just the hash and the signing date.