The last article explained the mechanics of legally valid and provable consent by electronic means. However, the methods explained in the previous article require diligence from the parties to make sure that the consent is legally solid and representable. Current article explains technological methods, that assure trust by default. I must mention right away, this article is not meant to be deeply technological, thus some use of terminology can be arguable in scientific context.

E-signatures are now a common practice worldwide. Simply a link to a place where you can review your document and draw up a signature is sent to your email. However, have you ever thought why and how it actually works? Everyone could just draw whatever signature in the computer, then claim they did not sign this document. Or can they?

I set out to collect people’s thoughts on a popular topic called digital identity and I was happy to learn that most people seem to agree with digital identity being more than just two entities communicating with each other. Like most people, I believe it means so much more. My thoughts went further, thinking about what connects digital identity to our real selves? In search of insights triggered by my thoughts and curiosity, I came across a short article from 7 years ago published by some MIT scientists. In this article, the authors presented a digital persona theory that pretty much answered most of my questions. However, it also raised ethical concerns on current social networks. To explain what ‘digital persona’ means and how it relates to digital identities, I put together a thought experiment, so please bear with me.

I remember the day I learned about Agrello. I was instantly intrigued by the vision of making ‘intelligent contracts’ with a human-readable interface. What is not to like about that? Well, that sort of stuff is great for techies; they are the only ones who are not intimated by its complexity. I held on to that thought for a while as it reassured me that Agrello was on to something different and impactful.

The current situation most of us are living is a painful reminder of how unpredictable the future is; being able to ‘adapt’ is a critical determinant of success. If nothing else, this experience confirms our need to rely on electronic means of exchange and trusted interactions to keep businesses running. I am referring to payments, e-self-serving, online ID verification, digital ID with trusted authentication, and digital signatures. Fortunately for us at Agrello, a significant part of the Estonian economy rests untouched thanks to the general digital adoption by Estonians and the government-led programs that guided us to this level of digitalization.