The table below describes product-oriented assurance levels. It does not constitute legal classification under ECTA or eIDAS. Labels such as Advanced or Qualified Electronic Signature refer to statutory concepts — VaseSign surfaces workflows and evidence; statutory tiers require appropriate provider integration where marked.
In the application send flow, recipients see assurance choices aligned to five catalogue tiers — Simple, Evidence-backed, Certificate/DSS (when integrated), South African AES via accredited provider, and EU QES via QTSP. Ordinary signing is never labelled AES or QES unless you explicitly pick a provider-backed tier and the deployment enables that integration.
Mapping to common procurement language
- Simple electronic signature — tier SIMPLE_ELECTRONIC; generally available in product for baseline intent capture.
- Evidence-backed electronic signature — tier EVIDENCE_BACKED; adds structured audit context and exports where enabled.
- Certificate-backed / DSS-supported validation — tier CERTIFICATE_BACKED_PROVIDER; validation and sealing outputs appear when DSS or certificate pipelines are configured for the workspace.
- South African AES via accredited provider — tier AES_SA_PROVIDER; requires integration with an accredited trust service provider; not issued natively by VaseSign alone.
- EU QES via QTSP — tier QES_EU_PROVIDER; requires a qualified trust service provider integration; VaseSign does not issue qualified signatures without that path.
- Additional tier Ceremony-rich electronic signature (CEREMONY_RICH) captures stronger step-up options without automatically mapping to a statutory AES/QES label.
| Level | Product code | Summary | Availability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple electronic signature | SIMPLE_ELECTRONIC | Designed for everyday agreements with signer intent captured in the VaseSign workflow. Does not by itself prove advanced cryptographic assurance. | Available in product (workspace settings apply) |
| Evidence-backed electronic signature | EVIDENCE_BACKED | Supports evidence-backed electronic signature records: ceremony metadata, audit events, and exportable artefacts where enabled for your workspace. | Available in product (workspace settings apply) |
| Ceremony-rich electronic signature | CEREMONY_RICH | Stronger signer ceremony options (for example OTP or step-up controls where configured) to support higher-risk workflows without claiming a specific statutory tier. | Available in product (workspace settings apply) |
| Certificate-backed digital signature (integration) | CERTIFICATE_BACKED_PROVIDER | Where a certificate or DSS-style validation path is configured, VaseSign can surface validation outputs. Availability depends on your organisation’s integration settings. | Available in product (workspace settings apply) |
| South African AES pathway via recognised TSP integration | AES_SA_PROVIDER | For SA AES-class outcomes under South African practice, VaseSign integrates with a recognised trust-service provider. Organisation-specific integration and legal sign-off apply. | Requires accredited / qualified provider integration |
| eIDAS AES pathway via provider integration | AES_EU_PROVIDER | AES-class signing under eIDAS rules requires an appropriate provider integration. VaseSign does not claim to issue such signatures without that integration. | Requires accredited / qualified provider integration |
| EU QES pathway via QTSP integration | QES_EU_PROVIDER | EU qualified signing requires a QTSP and provider-managed issuance; VaseSign does not issue QES through the product alone without that integration. | Requires accredited / qualified provider integration |
Unsupported high-assurance flows should remain blocked or clearly labelled until the correct provider integration is configured and tested. For evidence exports associated with completed workflows, see Evidence pack.