How to implement digital signature on my website?

[flaviussirop]

Hello! I need help on implementing a digital signature on my website! I can manage with PHP/Mysql. I am wondering if HTML could do it. How to proceed with this? Any ideas ? Should I store the signatures in a MYSql database ? What should it contain ?

[RyanSmith]

Are you talking about an MD5() hash?

PHP provides a function MD5('string') that encryptys a string, and MySQL also provides an MD5() function.

I always store my passwords in MySQL with an MD5() encryption so when I create a user,

INSERT INTO user (user_name, password) VALUES ($user_name, MD5($pass));

There are also functions in MySQL to run AVS where you can get the password back out if you need to using a key, or SHA encryption, I always forget the differences between all of them.

[flaviussirop]

No.. That's not what I am talking about.. I am talking about users signing an agreement with my website. Digitally sign. I was wondering if someone knows more about this than me.

[sparrowhawk]

[QUOTE=flaviussirop]No.. That's not what I am talking about.. I am talking about users signing an agreement with my website. Digitally sign. I was wondering if someone knows more about this than me.[/QUOTE]
This is more of a legal question than a php question, but I will take a stab at it from what I know.

We use (and it is very common to use) a checkbox when users check out to indicate whether they agree to our terms. Even though they sometimes dispute an issue we are able to submit our terms to credit card companies etc. and we always win, because our terms are reasonable and the user must indicate acceptance in order to complete the checkout process.

That being said it is probably OK to simply have users read a big long box of your terms and then check a checkbox to indicate acceptance. You can certainly record that acceptance in your database by way of a boolean TRUE or FALSE or a 1 or 0, but effectively if you build your site in such a way that they must agree to these terms to continue then you don't even have to worry about recording the acceptance.

HOWEVER - You must make sure that the terms that the user is agreeing to are reasonable and backed by the law (sometimes international interpretations of the law) so if the issue is multi-faceted then you should probably have a lawyer look over your terms to make sure that they are valid.

I know we had a lawyer work with us on our terms and it has saved us from countless lawsuits and settlements (accuracy disclaiming and such).

Was that what you meant???

Also - I just filed for a trademark (IN THE US). When I completed the application form I was asked to type in my name (and it would represent my legal signature), so apparently there are some usages where typing your name could be considered your signature, but I have no idea how they can avoid all sorts of fraud with that measure.