Hi Nick
Thanks for that, I hadn't considered PDFs.
We do email out the forms (usually with the data). They are in Word
format, so users can type directly into them and email them back. As I
understand it, by typing their name into the space for a signature they
are in effect signing the form (as they would if they used Frank's
scanned in signature). What I really need to do is to come up with some
wording to make it clear to people that this is what they are doing.
I got the idea from a form that turned up from the Friends of Friendless
Churches, which used the text 'Electronic signature:........By typing in
my name in the space after the words 'electronic signature', I hereby
certify that the same is herby certified to be a valid means of
establishing the authenticity of my signature within the meaning of
Section 7 of the Electronic Communications Act 2000'. I was hoping to
get a few other examples from the HER community so I could cobble
something together which sounded vaguely official, if possible in plain
English rather than with excessive use of 'herebys' and 'certifys'.
Incidentally, I am not sure these forms (or at least ours) would stand
up to legal scrutiny. I am equally unconvinced that we could withhold
data if someone refused to sign the declaration. The one time I tried to
enforce this I was unsuccessful. They are, however, useful as proof that
our service is used and for monitoring what people are using the data
for. For larger datasets we use a data licence produced by our legal
team but oddly but this has caused problems as those receiving it pass
it to their legal team who scrutinise every point, which then comes back
to our legal team etc, etc....
Best wishes
Nigel
Nigel Pratt
Archaeology & Historic Buildings
Environment Department
Hampshire County Council
The Castle, Winchester
SO23 8UD
Tel: 01962 84 6736 Fax: 01962 847055
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
www.hants.gov.uk/environment/historic-environment/
-----Original Message-----
From: Issues related to Historic Environment Records
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Nick Boldrini
Sent: 14 November 2006 08:52
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Electronic signatures
Hi Nigel
do you send out the forms by email?
We often send ours out as PDF's - including a questionnaire.
AT the moment, we ask people to sign and return the, assuming it would
be in hard copy)] format.
From training, I am aware that you can make adobe forms digitally
completable.
They can then be emailed back, though you don't get them back as form
layouts, more as a text file (from memory - been a while since the Adobe
training)
Its on my list of things to get round to sorting out .....
Anyway, this might be a useful way to achieve what you are after?
Doesn't help with the wording though.
Been interested to see what you come up with though
best wishes
Nick Boldrini
Historic Environment Record Officer
Heritage Section
Countryside Service
North Yorkshire County Council
County Hall
Northallerton
DL7 8AH
Direct Dial (01609) 532331
Conserving North Yorkshire's heritage - encouraging sustainable access
www.northyorks.gov.uk/archaeology
This email is personal. It is not authorised by or sent on behalf of
North Yorkshire County Council, however, the Council has the right and
does inspect emails sent from and to its computer system. This email is
the sole responsibility of the sender
>>> [log in to unmask] 13/11/2006 09:55 >>>
Hi folks
In common with most HERs, we currently ask everyone receiving data from
us to sign a user declaration form - basically a list of things they
promise not to do with the data. As about 80% of everything we send out
now is by email, the forms (if they come back at all) are often signed
then scanned as PDFs (a bit time consuming), returned unsigned by email,
or are posted back.
I am considering adding a box for an 'electronic signature' and was
wondering if any other HER has done this. I understand that under
Section 7 of the Electronic Communications Act 2000 typing your name can
be as good as physically signing the form, so what I am really after is
some standard wording I can put on the form to make people aware of
this. (I'm slightly wary of asking our legal team here about this as
past experience tells me that the current one side of A4 would be recast
as a 20 page licensing document!).
Any help, especially regarding some wording for this part of the form,
will be gratefully received.
Many thanks
Nigel
Nigel Pratt
Historic Data Manager
Archaeology & Historic Buildings
Environment Department
Hampshire County Council
The Castle, Winchester
SO23 8UD
Tel: 01962 84 6736 Fax: 01962 847055
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
www.hants.gov.uk/environment/historic-environment/
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