There are many forms of electronic contracts, but there are very few electronic contracts with real legal effect. We often see the following types of electronic contracts:

Use watermark, visible seal or even electronic signature of PS to sign the contract.

A contract stamped and scanned by one party (by fax, QQ, WeChat, email, etc.). ) give it to the other party, print and stamp it and return it.

For the electronic protocol generated by the website platform, the user only needs to click "Confirm".

In fact, these electronic contracts are not valid and have no legal effect, so they are easy to be tampered with during transmission or storage.

Whether an electronic contract is valid depends on whether the following two conditions are met:

1. All parties to the contract use their real names.

2. It is a reliable electronic signature recognized according to the Electronic Signature Law.

Satisfying the above two conditions, the electronic contract has the same legal effect as the handwritten signature of the paper contract.

According to the provisions of Articles 5 to 8 of the Electronic Signature Law, electronic contracts that lock the true identity of the signer, effectively prevent document tampering and accurately record the signing time are legally recognized.

However, the general Internet platform does not have information security authentication technology and reliable electronic signature technology, so it cannot identify whether the identities of two signers are true or not, and cannot prevent the electronic contract from being tampered with in the process of signing, transmission and storage, so it cannot ensure the legal effect of the electronic contract.

Therefore, through the third-party electronic contract platform, the electronic contract signed with reliable electronic signature is legal and effective.

We really need to be cautious about renting a house. If the signed "electronic" contract has low legal effect and is easy to be tampered with, then we are in a very passive and weak position. Therefore, if you want to sign an electronic contract, you must sign an electronic contract that meets the requirements of laws and regulations and is signed by a reliable electronic signature.