PLSO Oregon Surveyor July/August 2020

Professional Land Surveyors of Oregon |  www.plso.org 15 Numerous certificate authorities are avail - able with the ability to interface with a variety of software. Consequently, the process of utilizing a digital signature in compliance with OAR 820-025-0010 is too variable to provide a step-by-step description here. It should be noted that, with a digital sig- nature, the original is the digitally signed file. Prints of that file, whether to paper or to another digital format (such as PDF), are equivalent to photocopies of a wet signed document. Those prints can be used when a photocopy would be accept- able but not when an original is required. Most software capable of opening a spe- cific file type is also capable of confirming the validity of a digital signature when it is necessary to confirm the original has been received. Some software will display this confirmation prominently at the top or side of the screen, others need the user to interact with several layers of menus. Lastly, it is important to note that OAR 820-025-0005(e) requires a digitally signed document to have the words “digitally signed” in the location where a wet sig- nature would traditionally be placed. In an effort to continue to address ques - tions from the professional community, as well as provide further direction, the Board will be reconvening the Digital Sig- natures Task Force. Actions taken by the Task Force may cause information within this article to become outdated. To stay up-to-date on the latest information and resources, we recommend visiting the Board website. Please refer to the below resources for additional information on the differences between electronic and digital signatures. • Digital Signature for Engineering Documents – Ranvir Singh, PLS, 2008: https://www.oregon. gov/osbeels/Documents/ Resources%20for/2008_OSBEELS_ DigitalSignaturesFor EngineeringDocuments.pdf • Understanding Digital Signature – Jason Kent, PE, and Ranvir Singh, PLS, 2017: https://ncees.org/ wp-content/uploads/Licensure- Exchange_August-2017.pdf  x Contact us today! www.llmpubs.com | 800-647-1511 Advertise to Support Your Association!