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Show HN: FalsiScan – Make it look like a PDF has been hand signed and scanned

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41–50 of 191 posts

Re: Show HN: FalsiScan – Make it look like a PDF has been hand signed and scanned

#41

The shell scripts depend on a "convert" cli command – that command doesn't exist on my machine, and I can't find any reference to it in the documentation, does anyone know where that command comes from?

convert is part of imagemagick: https://imagemagick.org

Re: Show HN: FalsiScan – Make it look like a PDF has been hand signed and scanned

#42

The shell scripts depend on a "convert" cli command – that command doesn't exist on my machine, and I can't find any reference to it in the documentation, does anyone know where that command comes from?

This comes from imagemagick.

https://imagemagick.org/script/convert.php

Re: Show HN: FalsiScan – Make it look like a PDF has been hand signed and scanned

#43

The shell scripts depend on a "convert" cli command – that command doesn't exist on my machine, and I can't find any reference to it in the documentation, does anyone know where that command comes from?

Convert is an alias to "magick convert" which is a command built into ImageMagick. Installing ImageMagick is pretty easy, usually just `[packagemanager] install imagemagick`

Re: Show HN: FalsiScan – Make it look like a PDF has been hand signed and scanned

#44
Questions about the reproducibility of signatures reminds me of this case https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howland_will_forgery_trial in which Charles and Benjamin Pierce were brought in as expert witnesses. There's a good account in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Metaphysical_Club:_A_Story....

Re: Show HN: FalsiScan – Make it look like a PDF has been hand signed and scanned

#46
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Digital signatures also have legal status in the US. Until society catches up and uses cryptographic primitives provided by a national ID smart card (such that Estonia has) for authorizing intents, this is a satisfactory method to make document execution less painful. This project is already doing the easy part (“place pretty signature picture here”). Depending on your jurisdiction and their tolerance, you could also…

All the more baffling why some countries are moving away from national identification and other digital signing initiatives to prove identity. E.g. the UK that introduced and then subsequently dismantled a national ID card and database (apparently it was a "privacy" issue for the government to have a record of citizens?). Imagine this, a first world country, living in the dark ages essentially when it comes to identi…

If you support national ID systems, please do your part to advocate for such systems whenever possible (as well as the necessary privacy and oversight controls). Progress is a function of effort. I'm working on the US side.

Re: Show HN: FalsiScan – Make it look like a PDF has been hand signed and scanned

#47
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you're saying the signature itself is irrelevant? It's just an elaborate checkbox? The question then is how do you prove I was the guy who checked the box?

It’s sort of is actually. What really matters is the providence of the approval, the adult trail or whatever you want to call it. You are creating a record of when and that you agreed to something and the signature is an artifact of that agreement. A signature is somewhat harder to take them and checking a checkbox and can be somewhat more easily traced back to the signatory, so it’s probably somewhat better than a c…

Audit trail... see also companies like Jornaya that specialize in making any form interaction auditable for consent to receive marketing.

Re: Show HN: FalsiScan – Make it look like a PDF has been hand signed and scanned

#48

I don't get the magical power of a signature at all. Everybody can write my name under a document. This project basically allows you to forge your own signature. Is it still legally binding? Do these rules even remember the original intent?

The act of marking the sig field shows your intent to bind to the contract. You can digitally sign but there are a couple extra steps to confirm the intent and identity that aren't hard but are just hard enough to make DocuSign a lot of money and leave everybody else to print/sign/scan their stuff.

The willingness or need to enforce seems to correlate with the measures a company requires you to take on signing.

* TOS - a simple checkbox - or even just a "continue button" * Moderately large purchase - type your name * Larger purchase - draw your name * Major contract - use this widely recognized signature flow

Re: Show HN: FalsiScan – Make it look like a PDF has been hand signed and scanned

#49
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you're saying the signature itself is irrelevant? It's just an elaborate checkbox? The question then is how do you prove I was the guy who checked the box?

It’s sort of is actually. What really matters is the providence of the approval, the adult trail or whatever you want to call it. You are creating a record of when and that you agreed to something and the signature is an artifact of that agreement. A signature is somewhat harder to take them and checking a checkbox and can be somewhat more easily traced back to the signatory, so it’s probably somewhat better than a c…

So in hipster terms: it's a paper blockchain that isn't immutable and has no real identity ;-)

Re: Show HN: FalsiScan – Make it look like a PDF has been hand signed and scanned

#50
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Digital signatures also have legal status in the US. Until society catches up and uses cryptographic primitives provided by a national ID smart card (such that Estonia has) for authorizing intents, this is a satisfactory method to make document execution less painful. This project is already doing the easy part (“place pretty signature picture here”). Depending on your jurisdiction and their tolerance, you could also…

All the more baffling why some countries are moving away from national identification and other digital signing initiatives to prove identity. E.g. the UK that introduced and then subsequently dismantled a national ID card and database (apparently it was a "privacy" issue for the government to have a record of citizens?). Imagine this, a first world country, living in the dark ages essentially when it comes to identi…

> (apparently it was a "privacy" issue for the government to have a record of citizens?)

That's because there's a 95% chance they'll sell it to the likes of Equifax and Experian - what minister could resist the temptation to 'make the system pay for itself' while 'reducing fraud' and 'working with the private sector' - and a 100% chance one of them will then lose it in a breach.

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