The e-signature with the highest level of security

Take the example of signing an employment contract.  

• SES (Simple Electronic Signature) 
  A new employee ticks a box in an online form and types their name to acknowledge acceptance of the contract. This method is easy to use but offers minimal identity assurance. 

• AES (Advanced Electronic Signature) 
  The employee logs into a secure HR portal with two-factor authentication and signs the contract using a cryptographic key linked to their account. This provides a higher level of integrity and identity verification. 

• QES (Qualified Electronic Signature) 
  The employee signs the contract using a qualified certificate issued via itsme^® on their smartphone. Their identity has been verified in advance by a qualified trust service provider (QTSP), and the signature is legally equivalent to a handwritten one under EU law. 

Yes. eIDAS grants mutual recognition of QES across all EU member states. So if you sign with itsme’s qualified certificate, it remains a QES legally recognized in other countries 

itsme meets high security and regulatory standards including: 

• Identity provider with EU eIDAS Level of Assurance High 

• Recognized under eIDAS as a Qualified Trust Service Provider. 

• ISO 27001 certified and audited regularly; logs and incidents are centrally monitored and retained per compliance rules . 

• All signature operations use cryptographic keys stored in secure hardware with robust certificate validation and timestamping. 

• Compliant with GDPR, AML, and PSD2 directives 

Absolutely. QES with itsme is legally equivalent to a handwritten signature for all eIDAS-eligible documents. In Belgium, certain documents—like employment contracts or notarial acts—require QES, which itsme supports. 

No, you cannot revoke a QES once applied, as it permanently embeds your qualified certificate and timestamp. However: 

You can revoke the certificate if your itsme account is blocked or compromised, stopping future QES creation  

This doesn’t retract or alter previous signatures but prevents further misuse. 

Data resides within Belgian Mobile ID (BMID) data centers, secured and operated under ISO 27001. 

Logs are kept for at least 1 year; transaction records are archived for 10 years to meet legal audit and validation requirements  

When external services are used, the storage location remains within the EU and subject to Belgian/EU data protection laws. 

itsme^® Sign is available as a qualified electronic signature (QES) across various document and electronic signature platforms. Pricing options vary based on the size of the organization. We offer small, medium and large packages, or tailored to your specific needs. For detailed pricing information, please refer to the price table available on here.

Unlike signing on paper, there are several ways to sign online and not all benefit from the same level of security or have the same legal value.

eIDAS defines three types of electronic signatures: simple electronic signature, advanced electronic signature (adES), and Qualified Electronic Signature (QES). This last one is the signature with the highest level of security. It is also the only electronic signature type to have special legal status in EU member states, and the burden of proof rests on the one disputing it.

According to the eIDAS regulations, electronic signatures hold legal validity for all business documents in the EU. However, specific cases require a Qualified Electronic Signature (QES). Such cases include employment contracts and certain business documents like the transfer of registered shares or bonds, as well as shares registration in relevant registers. Additionally, tax returns and applications that are submitted to authorities must also be accompanied by a QES. This requirement extends to consumer and credit agreements as well. Even rental agreements fall under the scope of requiring a QES for validation purposes.

It is recommended to be on the side of caution and ensure maximum protection by using a QES for all document types. The level of security provided by a QES is unmatched.

At this moment itsme^® only supports signatures by natural persons. itsme^® does not support seals by legal persons.

Certainly! All citizens residing in countries where itsme^® is available have the option to freely download the itsme^® app from the App Store, Google Play Store. See here all the available countries.

Thanks to the batch signing feature of itsme^® you can now simplify the signing of multiple documents while keeping the guarantee of having a Qualified Electronic Signature on each document. One document can also be signed by multiple signers.