Singapore introduces SingPass digital signatures

The Singapore government has introduced the ability for residents to electronically sign contracts, agreements and other legal documentation using the SingPass government digital identity system.

The Sign with SingPass digital signing service enables SingPass users to use the SingPass Mobile app to digitally sign an electronic document using an identifiable signature that is linked to the signer cryptographically and automatically validated at the point of signing.

The signed document is platform agnostic so the validated signature can be viewed with the user’s preferred system.

Digital signatures will use certificates issued by ATS, Singapore's National Certification Authority. No document data will be transferred between the digital signing partner’s platform/business partner and the NDI platform during the signing process.

Instead a cryptographically random, unintelligible and irreversible code representing the signed document will be transferred using blockchain principles. Other cybersecurity measures in line with industry best practices have been implemented into the service.

The signature will be applied to a digitised document in less than two minutes.

The Government Technology Agency (GovTech Singapore) will progressively roll out the service in collaboration with eight leading digital signing application providers, including DocuSign and Adobe, over the coming months.

The first implementation will be a pilot trial with the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) for the digital signing of property caveats e-lodged with the agency.

GovTech Chief Executive Kok Ping Soon said the Sign With Singpas functionality will support the government’s efforts to digitise its public-facing services and achieve the Digital Government Blueprint’s goal of providing 100% end-to-end digital options.

“COVID-19 has accelerated the pace of digitalisation. As more services are digitalised, the need for a high-security documentation signing service increases. Sign with SingPass addresses this need. Businesses can use Sign with SingPass to unlock services for their consumers who are SingPass users with greater confidence,” he said.

“Through Sign with SingPass, businesses will save cost and manpower by removing the manual processes of verifying physical paperwork.”

The launch of the new functionality follows the introduction in July of a face verification system for the SingPass program.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/ArtemSam