Patent ID: 7793106

Claim:
A method for verifying authority of a signer of a document, the method comprising: receiving, at a server, the document after the signer has signed the document, wherein the document is electronically signed; verifying, by the server, identity of the signer; establishing, by the server, a type for the document; establishing, by the server, the authority of the signer to sign the type of document and that the document is signed by the signer, wherein establishing, by the server, the authority of the signer to sign the type of document further comprises: identifying, by the server, the type of documents the signer is authorized to sign and constraints on the authority of the signer; responsive to establishing, by the server, the authority of the signer to sign the type of document and that the document is signed by the signer, referencing, by the server, an authority endorsement with the document, wherein the authority endorsement comprises an attestation of the authority of the signer at the time the authority server signed the attestation; and identifying a hash of all contents of the document which are signed, wherein the hash is a digest of the contents, wherein the contents comprise the authority endorsement, a signature of the signer, and an identification of content covered by the signature.