An Electronic Signature Within The Digital Economy

The current article is devoted to a digital signature as a new method of authentication within the digital economy. The paper studies a legal nature and a juridical force of a digital signature. The author compares the values of an electronically arranged signature with a personal handwritten counterpart. The article also pays attention to that now, in digital age, many people still prefer using only a personal handwritten signature in a document flow. Based on the Russian federal law, the author outlines the classification of e-signatures. The role of an e-signature in conditions of the digital economy is considered. In conclusion the author points out that the legal force of an electronically arranged signature is equal with a personal handwritten counterpart. At the same time, it is noticed that the field of application of a digital signature is more unidimensional than of non-digital signatures. Finally, the author outlines that the digital signature has a lot of prospects in the digital age. The research also discusses the possible outcome when a digital signature would become the exclusive way of identity authentication. By the way, it is established that its personal handwritten counterpart could not be totally escaped in a document flow. In addition, there are some risks which can be developed after the total transforming to electronically arranged signatures.