What a link records.
The first time someone opens your link, SignToSee writes one entry into your access log: who, when, which file, and the terms they saw. This page shows what that entry holds, how anyone can check it, and where it stops.
What one entry holds
Written once, the first time each person opens a link. On every plan.
- Their email address
- Confirmed with an 8-digit code sent to that inbox. Stored encrypted.
- The moment
- Date and time in UTC, set by our database, not by their device.
- Where from
- Their IP address, stored encrypted, and the country it points to. The country is an approximation.
- Which browser
- A short description such as “Chrome 131 / macOS”. Never the full browser string, which can single out a device.
- Which file
- A SHA-256 fingerprint of the file you uploaded. For a link to a page elsewhere, a fingerprint of its address.
- Which terms
- The agreement they accepted, or the notice they were shown, frozen as it was at that moment. After an NDA, you both receive the signed PDF.
- Its place in the log
- A fingerprint of the entry before it. That link is what makes an edit visible.
Later visits by the same person show in your dashboard for 90 days. They are not part of the log.
How a change shows
Each entry carries the one before it
Every entry includes a SHA-256 fingerprint of the previous one. Edit an old entry and every fingerprint after it stops matching.
A copy kept elsewhere
Someone who rewrites an entry and recomputes everything after it would pass that check, so it is not enough on its own. Once a day a copy of the whole log is stored separately, and every night the live log is compared with those copies. A difference raises an alert.
A timestamp from an outside provider
The fingerprint of each daily copy is timestamped by an eIDAS-qualified timestamp provider. Only the fingerprint leaves our server, never the log. A copy rewritten later no longer matches its timestamp.
The timestamp shows that a copy existed, unchanged, at that time. It says nothing about whether what the entries describe is true.
The evidence package
On Sign plans you can download any entry, or every entry in a project, as a PDF and a JSON file. Together they hold:
- The entry: email address, time, IP address, country, browser and file fingerprint
- The full text of the terms that were accepted or shown
- The fingerprints that tie it into the log
- Instructions to check it, with the commands written out
- A digital signature over the JSON file, made with SignToSee's key
The log itself is kept on every plan. Downloading it starts on Sign.
Check it without relying on us
None of these steps need an account or our help. Anyone can run them on their own computer.
- 1
The entry adds up
Recompute the entry's fingerprint with one command in a terminal. The PDF prints the exact command for Mac, Linux and Windows. This shows the entry is consistent with itself.
- 2
It is the same file
Fingerprint your own copy of the file and compare it with the one in the entry. If they match, it is the file that was opened.
- 3
It came from SignToSee
Check the signature in the JSON file against our public key. The first two steps only recompute values printed in the package, so a careful forgery would pass them. This one needs our private key to pass.
What it can't tell you
A record is only useful if you know where it stops.
Who was at the keyboard
Only that someone with access to that inbox entered the code.
What happened after opening
Nothing can un-see a document. Screenshots, photos and how long someone read are not recorded.
What a linked page showed
For a Figma or Drive link, only the address is fingerprinted. What that page showed at the time is not recorded.
What a court will make of it
Accepting an NDA here is a simple electronic signature. eIDAS Art. 25(1) prevents a court from dismissing one solely because it is electronic; it does not fix its evidential weight. For your own case, ask a lawyer.
That a change is impossible
The log is tamper-evident: a change shows. It is not tamper-proof.
Who it was, after erasure
When a recipient has their data erased under the GDPR, the key to their email address and IP address is destroyed. The entry stays, so the log still checks out, but it no longer names them. The browser description and country stay too.
See it on
your own link.
Try Sign free for 7 days, evidence packages included. Open your own link, then download its entry.
No credit card required.