Effective Date: 11/30/2025
Last Updated: 10/31/2025
Change summary (10/31/2025): We clarified certificate/trust-program rules (including no refunds for CA/trust-list actions), expanded customer security/legal-use responsibilities, refined termination triggers, and standardized warranty/limitation terms. See the announcement for details.
Welcome to Trusted Signatures (“TS”, “we”, “our”). By using our services, you agree to these terms.
Use of Trusted Signatures (“TS”) service is subject to these Terms and our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the services.
Business use only. TS provides API- and CLI-based tools to apply PDF digital signatures/seals to documents that you process in your own environment. We do not offer legal advice, notarial services, or consumer e-signature workflows. Validation results depend on the recipient’s PDF viewer trust configuration and on PDF features such as certification signatures (DocMDP), legal attestations, and incremental updates, which can affect how changes are flagged or permitted. TS does not provide legal advice; you are responsible for determining the legal effect of any signature or seal in your jurisdictions. See §15 for warranty disclaimers and limitations. The Services are not designed to receive PHI; see §5 and §13.2.
You must be 18+ years of age and create an account to obtain API keys. You are responsible for key confidentiality, rotation, and all activity under your account. Test keys are for evaluation and may use self-signed or test certificates; they are not appropriate for production due to lower assurance. You are responsible for credential hygiene, including (a) key rotation, (b) secure storage, and (c) immediate revocation on suspected compromise.
Overview: Trusted Signatures (“TS”) provides tools to apply standards-based digital signatures/seals to PDF documents and, where purchased, to procure and manage organization certificates used for those seals. Validation outcomes depend on recipient trust settings and applicable standards behavior (e.g., certification signatures, DocMDP/FieldMDP permissions, legal attestations, and incremental updates).
Applies an organizational-verification (OV) seal to PDFs designed for Adobe-compatible validation in Acrobat/Reader. Publisher can attach revocation data (OCSP/CRL) and trusted timestamps (e.g., RFC 3161) and enable long-term validation (LTV), and may set certification (DocMDP) permissions to allow or restrict post-seal changes (e.g., form-fill or additional signatures) without breaking trust.
Scope & Limits. Publisher does not by itself confer inclusion in any third-party trust program. Validation indicators shown to recipients (e.g., “Certified by …”) are determined by the viewer’s trust store and settings. TS does not control recipient software behavior.
Provides issuance and lifecycle management of organization-validated (OV) document signing certificates through a Certificate Authority (CA) recognized within the Adobe Approved Trust List (AATL) ecosystem, for use with Publisher sealing. Customer must complete CA/RA validation, keep organization information current, and comply with the CA’s Subscriber Agreement and CPS. Issuance, suspension, and revocation decisions are made by the CA and may affect downstream validation.
Scope & Limits. AATL recognition depends on third-party trust-program rules and the recipient’s viewer configuration. TS does not guarantee inclusion or continued inclusion in any trust list.
Provides issuance through a Certificate Authority (CA) and lifecycle management of organization-validated (OV) certificates recognized within EU “Advanced” trust paths (i.e., via EUTL-listed providers) for use with Publisher sealing. Customer must complete CA/RA validation, keep organization information current, and comply with the CA’s Subscriber Agreement and CPS. Issuance, suspension, and revocation decisions are made by the CA and may affect downstream validation.
Scope & Limits. Trust recognition depends on the relevant EU trust framework and recipient configuration. Provider decisions (issuance, suspension, revocation) may impact validation; TS does not control those decisions. Qualified (QES) certificates are not available.
TS implements industry-standard PDF signing constructs consistent with ISO 32000 (PDF) and PAdES behaviors, including approval vs. certification signatures, DocMDP/FieldMDP permission dictionaries, inclusion of OCSP/CRL revocation data and RFC 3161 timestamps where available, and support for incremental updates and LTV to the extent supported by the chosen certificate, timestamp, and recipient software.
Third-party dependencies. Certificates, timestamps, and revocation information are provided by third parties. Availability, inclusion in trust programs (e.g., AATL, EU trust lists), and validation banners are outside TS’s control.
Accurate identity & key stewardship (Identity products). Customer must provide accurate organization data, respond to CA/RA requests, protect credentials/keys, and request revocation if data becomes inaccurate or credentials are compromised.
Viewer variance. Because validation depends on recipient software and trust stores, indicators and permissions enforcement (e.g., for DocMDP) may vary by viewer and configuration.
TS does not require uploads of your PDFs to provide Publisher sealing. If you choose optional hosted features now or later, we will process only what is necessary and minimize retention. You represent and warrant that you (a) have all rights and permissions to process, sign, and/or seal the documents you submit; and (b) will comply with all applicable laws.
With respect to our Publisher Identity products, TS will create and maintain the private keys for customer OV certificates inside Hardware Security Modules (HSMs). Neither the customer, TS, nor our vendors can access the private keys associated with those certificates, even through direct access to the physical hardware in which the keys are stored. That means we cannot supply customers with the keys should they wish to use them at another hosting provider.
Healthcare data scope (no PHI content). The Services are not designed to receive or store protected health information (PHI). You must not transmit PHI to TS in: (a) PDFs or other document content; (b) content-derived metadata; (c) support tickets or attachments; or (d) free-form request fields. TS may process limited operational metadata (e.g., API/service logs, document digests such as SHA-256, certificate serials/issuer, validation outcomes) necessary to operate the Services; such processing does not include document content.
You will not: (a) use the Services for any unlawful, deceptive, or fraudulent purpose; (b) interfere with, disrupt, or reverse-engineer the Services; (c) disclose or permit use of API keys outside your organization; (d) misrepresent your or any organization’s identity; or(e) exceed rate limits or otherwise abuse shared resources; (f) transmit or include PHI in sealing requests, filenames, or support communications, except for limited operational metadata processed by TS solely to operate the Services as described in §13.2.
Trusted Signatures (“TS”) uses third-party Certificate Authorities (CAs) and related trust services (e.g., OCSP/CRL revocation, RFC 3161 time-stamping). CA operations, issuance criteria, audits, and lifecycle decisions (issuance, suspension, revocation) are governed by the CA’s Certification Practice Statement and Subscriber Agreement, which are incorporated by reference. TS does not control those decisions.
Inclusion in trust programs (e.g., Adobe trust ecosystem/AATL, EU trust lists) and any addition or removal from such lists are outside TS’s control. Validation indicators (e.g., “Certified by …”, warnings) depend on recipient software, local trust stores, and configuration; outcomes may vary across viewers.
You are responsible for (a) monitoring the status and suitability of any certificate you use; (b) providing accurate organization data and completing CA/RA validation; (c) keeping contacts current; (d) complying with applicable CA Subscriber terms; and (e) promptly requesting revocation and ceasing use if certificate data becomes inaccurate, is suspected compromised, or validation requirements change; and (f) determining whether your intended use of digital signatures/seals satisfies applicable legal or regulatory requirements in the jurisdictions where you operate or send documents.
If a certificate expires, is suspended, is revoked, or becomes otherwise invalid (including due to trust-list changes), the Services may fail to produce a verifiable signature for recipients, or previously sealed PDFs may validate differently over time (e.g., loss of LTV if revocation/timestamp data cannot be refreshed). TS is not responsible for such outcomes.
Refunds or credits are not provided for Certificate Authority or trust-program actions (including issuance delays, suspensions, revocations, removals, or policy changes), viewer/trust-store variance, or other third-party decisions or events that affect validation, and are separate from the limitations in §15.
To reduce disruption, (i) maintain current contacts with the CA, (ii) monitor certificate status, (iii) maintain and test key-compromise procedures, and (iv) include OCSP/CRL data and RFC 3161 timestamps to support long-term validation where available. Do not include PHI in sealing requests or support materials; see §13.2.
The following duties apply when you purchase Identity products and are in addition to this Section 7: (a) Accurate information & contacts. Maintain current, accurate organization information and authorized contacts with the CA/RA; (b) Validation cooperation. Respond promptly to CA/RA challenges and provide required evidence for issuance or revalidation; (c) Use restrictions. Use issued certificates only as permitted by the applicable CA Subscriber Agreement and Certification Practice Statement (CPS), which are incorporated by reference; (d) Compromise & inaccuracy. Promptly request revocation and cease use if credential compromise is suspected or organization data becomes inaccurate. (e) CA decisions. You acknowledge that issuance, suspension, and revocation decisions are made by the CA/RA and may affect downstream validation; TS is not responsible for those decisions; and (f) Scope note. Qualified Electronic Signature (QES) certificates are not provided.
PDF supports approval and certification signatures. Certification signatures can enforce DocMDP permissions (e.g., “no changes,” “form-fill & signatures,” etc.) and legal content attestations; incremental updates allow additional signatures without invalidating earlier ones. Different viewers may surface these checks differently depending on their trust configuration.
Usage is billed via your on-file payment method under your plan. You authorize us (and our processor) to charge fees and applicable taxes. Late or failed payments may result in suspension.
No SLA is provided unless separately agreed. We may modify or discontinue features; for material changes, we’ll post updated Terms. Maintenance windows and rate-limit adjustments may occur to ensure stability.
Preview features may be incomplete or changed/removed at any time and are provided “as-is.”
You will comply with all applicable laws, including export control and sanctions. You will not use the Services in prohibited jurisdictions or for prohibited end users. You will comply with anti-bribery/anti-corruption laws.
12.1 General compliance.
You will comply with all applicable laws, including export control and sanctions. You will not use the Services in prohibited jurisdictions or for prohibited end users. You will comply with anti-bribery/anti-corruption laws.
12.2 HIPAA; limited BAA (operational metadata only).
(a) No PHI content. The Services are not designed to receive or store PHI. You must not transmit PHI to TS in requests or content, PDF-derived metadata, or support ticket materials.
(b) Limited BAA scope. If required, TS may execute a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) that covers only Operational Metadata processed to operate the Services (e.g., API/service logs, non-reversible document digests such as SHA-256, certificate/validation status data). The BAA will expressly exclude document content (including PDFs), filenames, and content-derived metadata.
(c) Customer obligations. You are responsible for (i) preventing PHI from being sent to the sealing endpoints or support channels; (ii) redacting PHI from diagnostics you provide; and (iii) promptly notifying TS if you believe PHI was transmitted in violation of this §13.2.
(d) Order of precedence. In case of conflict between this §13.2 and a signed BAA, the BAA governs solely with respect to PHI in Operational Metadata within its defined scope; otherwise, these Terms apply.
The Services are provided “as is” and “as available” to the fullest extent permitted by law. TS disclaims all warranties, express or implied, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, and non-infringement. Without limiting the foregoing, TS makes no guarantee regarding: (a) the legal enforceability of any signature or seal in any jurisdiction; (b) the availability, inclusion, or continued inclusion of any certificate or provider in any trust program or list; or (c) uninterrupted or error-free operation of the Services.
To the maximum extent permitted by law: (a) TS and its affiliates, suppliers, and service providers will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for lost profits, loss of business, or loss of data, arising out of or relating to the Services, including any issuance, suspension, revocation, expiration, or invalidation of a certificate or trust-program change, even if advised of the possibility of such damages; and (b) TS’s aggregate liability for all claims relating to the Services will not exceed the amounts paid by you to TS for the Services during the twelve (12) months preceding the event giving rise to liability.
Some jurisdictions do not allow certain disclaimers or limitations; to that extent, the foregoing will apply only to the fullest extent permitted by law.
You will indemnify and hold TS harmless from third-party claims arising from your content, misuse of the Services, violation of laws, or misrepresentation of identity.
We may suspend or terminate the Services, or your access to them, with or without notice, if we determine that: (a) you have breached these Terms or applicable CA Subscriber terms; (b) payment is overdue or your payment method fails; (c) your use poses a security, legal, compliance, or reputational risk (including suspected fraud, abuse, or credential compromise); (d) a third-party provider (including a CA, time-stamping, or revocation service) suspends, revokes, or refuses required services; (e) your use would violate export control, sanctions, or other applicable laws; or (f) continuing to provide the Services is commercially impracticable due to circumstances beyond our reasonable control.
You may terminate at any time by closing your account. Sections intended to survive (including payment obligations, confidentiality, IP, disclaimers, limitations of liability, and indemnities) will survive termination. Documents sealed prior to termination will remain valid, provided the certificate used to seal them are not revoked.
TS and its licensors retain all rights in the Services. The Services may include third-party or open-source components; relevant licenses will apply as noted.
You grant TS the right to use your name and logo as a customer reference, unless you opt out via written notice.
These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Minnesota. Venue and jurisdiction lie in state or federal courts located in Hennepin County, Minnesota.
We may provide notices via email to your account contacts or via the Service. You may contact us at support@trusted-signatures.com, or for legal notices at Michelle@trusted-signatures.com and Brad@trusted-signatures.com. Address: 4 Saint Albans Rd W. Hopkins, MN 55305
No waiver is implied by any delay. If any provision is unenforceable, the remainder stays in effect. You may not assign these Terms without our consent; we may assign to an affiliate or in connection with a merger or sale. These Terms are the entire agreement regarding the Services.
We may update these Terms from time to time. Material changes will be notified via the Services or by email to your account contacts and will be effective on the date stated in the notice (or, if no date is stated, upon posting with an updated “Effective Date”). Your continued use of the Services after the effective date of any changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated Terms. If you do not agree, you must stop using the Services. Changes will not apply retroactively unless required by law or expressly stated.