Human Readable Digital Signature Content Validation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current digital signature methods lack transparency and user control, allowing creators to manipulate the data being signed, leading to potential deception as users are not presented with the actual content they are agreeing to, and there is no assurance that the signed data represents the entirety of the document.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a method that requires documents to comply with a predefined ruleset for font colors, size, and legibility before allowing a digital signature, ensuring the user can review the entire content and generating a digital signature using AES PKI that protects the document in its entirety, allowing users to print, share, or save the signed document.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the signer's computer receives data in a non-uniform format (e.g., byte stream, hash), then the system is flexible in accepting different data types, but the user cannot reasonably represent or understand what is being signed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary representation layer between the raw data and the user. The system converts various data formats (byte streams, hashes, documents) into a standardized, human-readable intermediate format that preserves the essential information while being comprehensible to users. This intermediary representation allows the user to verify what is being signed without requiring direct access to the raw data format.
2Ease of operation
If only one signature is required for the entire document, then the signing process is simple and efficient, but the user has no control over what data the signature represents and cannot verify the complete document later
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the signature verification capability into multiple independent components. Instead of a single monolithic signature, the system generates multiple signatures corresponding to different segments or aspects of the document (e.g., different pages, different sections, different data formats). Each signature can be independently verified, allowing users to confirm specific portions of the document while maintaining overall signing simplicity.
3Quantity of substance
If the creator can hash or reduce document data to a manageable chunk, then the data processing is efficient and storage is reduced, but the user has absolutely no idea or control over what is actually being signed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms the data representation parameters from compressed formats (hashes, reduced chunks) to expanded, human-readable formats for user display. The system maintains the efficient hashed representation for cryptographic purposes while simultaneously providing a parameter-changed version in full-text or structured format for user review. This dual-parameter approach allows both efficient processing and user comprehension.
4Reliability
If pages of a physical document are signed individually, then tampering with unsigned pages is prevented, but the signing process becomes complex and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal signing mechanism that can operate at multiple levels simultaneously. A single signing action can generate signatures for the entire document, individual sections, or specific pages depending on the configuration, eliminating the need for separate signing operations for each page. This multi-functional approach maintains document integrity while simplifying the user experience.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for increasing validity of digital signatures comprising: receiving a request from a browser to have a user apply a digital signature to a document; verifying that the document complies with a predefined ruleset (e.g., prescribing font colors); presenting the user with the document on a user-computer interface in such a way that the document's entire content is completely reviewable by the user only if the document complies with the predefined ruleset; upon receiving instruction from the user to sign the document, generating a digital signature according to Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) public key infrastructure (PKI) that protects the document in its entirety, as presented to the user in the previous step; enabling the user to perform one or more of printing, sharing, and saving the digitally-signed document in a memory store; and sending the digitally-signed document with the newly-generated signature to the browser.