Legality

Yes, and here is exactly why.

Electronic signatures are recognised in Nigeria, the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom. What decides whether a particular one holds up is not the software's branding. It is whether you can show intent, consent, attribution and an unaltered record. Baton captures all four, and this page says how.

Before anything else

This is not legal advice

We are not your lawyers, and no page on the internet knows what you are signing or where. What follows is a plain account of the law as it stands and of what Baton records, written so that you or your counsel can check both. For anything unusual (property, probate, anything a regulator supervises) ask somebody qualified in your jurisdiction.

What the law actually asks for

Four things, and Baton records all four

Across every jurisdiction below, the questions are the same. Did the person mean to sign? Did they agree to do it electronically? Can you show it was them? And can you prove the document has not changed since?

Intent: an affirmative act

Nothing is pre-filled and nothing is pre-ticked. The signer draws or types their signature themselves and then presses a button that says what it does. There is no path through Baton where a signature appears without somebody deciding to make it appear.

Consent to transact electronically

An explicit, unticked checkbox, including the right to ask for a paper copy instead. It is separate from the signature itself, so agreeing to sign electronically and actually signing are two distinct acts, which is what makes the consent worth anything.

Attribution: evidence it was them

The signing link is single-use and expires. When it is used, Baton records the time, the IP address and the device from the request itself, never from anything the page could be persuaded to send. Under section 93(3) of Nigeria’s Evidence Act, an electronic signature may be proved by showing that such a procedure existed, which is precisely what this record is.

An unaltered record

Every event is chained by SHA-256 to the one before it, so altering any single record breaks the chain at a point anybody can locate. The signed PDF is flattened, and its hash is printed on the certificate, so the file you hold can be checked against the file that was signed.

Jurisdictions

Where this stands up, and under what

Named statutes with section numbers, so you can check rather than take our word for it.

Nigeria

There is no single e-signature statute. The Electronic Transactions Bill passed the Senate in 2017 and was never assented to. Recognition comes from three places instead: section 93 of the Evidence Act 2011, which makes an electronic signature satisfy a signature requirement; section 17(1) of the Cybercrime Act 2015, which makes them binding in commercial transactions; and section 101 of CAMA 2020, which accepts them for company documents requiring authentication.

United States

The ESIGN Act (2000) federally and UETA in almost every state give an electronic signature the same standing as ink. Both turn on intent, consent to do business electronically, attribution, and the ability to retain and reproduce the record: the four above.

EU and United Kingdom

eIDAS recognises three levels, and Baton produces the first: a simple electronic signature. Under eIDAS a signature cannot be denied legal effect merely for being electronic, so a simple signature is admissible and enforceable. See the limits below for when it is not enough.

The limits

What Baton does not claim

A page arguing that you should be able to verify our evidence cannot overstate what that evidence is.

It is a simple electronic signature, not a qualified one

Baton stamps the signature, flattens the PDF and chains the record. It does not embed an AATL or qualified certificate from a trust service provider, so it is not an advanced or qualified signature under eIDAS. For the overwhelming majority of what a nonprofit signs (grant agreements, supplier contracts, volunteer forms, policy acknowledgments, board resolutions) a simple signature is what everyone uses and what the law accepts. If a counterparty specifically requires QES, Baton is the wrong tool and we would rather you knew now.

We do not verify who a person is

Baton proves that whoever held a single-use link signed at a given time from a given address. It does not check a passport or run a credit-file quiz. For most paperwork, control of the mailbox the document was sent to is the standard everybody works to, but it is attribution by possession, and it is worth knowing that is what you have.

Exclusions

Sign these on paper

Some documents are excluded from electronic signature almost everywhere, and no software changes that. The list varies by jurisdiction, and this is the common core.

Commonly excluded

Wills and codicils. Court orders and filings. Divorce decrees and other family-law instruments. Adoption papers. In many jurisdictions, deeds and documents requiring a notary, a seal or an attesting witness, which in Nigeria and the UK reaches a good deal of property paperwork.

If your organization handles bequests

A charity that receives legacies will be handed wills, and a will is the clearest exclusion there is. Baton is a fine place to keep a copy for your records; it is not a way to execute one. Same for anything a regulator supervises in a prescribed form. Check the form before assuming.

Evidence

What you can hand to someone who does not use Baton

The point of all of the above is what survives an argument two years from now, possibly after you have stopped paying us.

The certificate of completion

Issued with every finished document. It records each participant, what they did, when, from what IP and on what device, and the SHA-256 hash of the exact file they were shown. It is an ordinary PDF. It opens anywhere and proves what it proves without contacting us.

The chain, and how to check it

Every event references the hash of the one before, so a single altered record breaks the chain at a locatable point rather than silently. You can verify a document’s chain from inside Baton, and export the trail as CSV or PDF for anybody who needs to check it themselves. More detail on the security page.

Something here unclear, or your counsel has a question we have not answered? Ask us. We would rather answer it than have you guess.