Introduction

The following requirements describe the acceptable use of the University of Washington eSignatures (Docusign) service.

Requirements for the Use of eSignatures

• Users may only use eSignatures for University of Washington business purposes.
• Users must comply with all applicable local, state, and federal laws and regulations.
• Users must comply with all applicable University and/or UW Medicine policies and procedures.
• Users must comply with the Access and Use Agreement for UW Information Systems and UW Institutional Information.

Prohibited Uses of eSignatures

• Use of eSignatures for non-University business such as personal, private business, or commercial activities is prohibited.
• Any use of eSignatures accounts of other users without proper authorization is prohibited.
• Sender use of eSignatures by individuals not employed with the University is prohibited.
• Use of eSignatures is prohibited for storing or transmitting patient-related and other HIPAA-regulated personal health information.

Federal Compliance Considerations

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) eSignatures complies with FERPA federal law and, when used correctly, may be used to send envelopes and affiliated documents that contain student education data. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) eSignatures does not comply with the HIPAA Privacy Rule. Users may not send envelopes or affiliated documents that would violate this rule, including but not limited to envelopes and affiliated documents that contain personal health information.

Records Management

UW eSignatures users must retain documents and other records outside of the eSignatures (Docusign) system, and in compliance with the UW Records Management or UW Medicine Records Management guidelines and policies. These guidelines and policies include appropriate records retention and filing practices. The eSignatures (Docusign) system is not to be used as a long-term storage repository, and the records may be removed by systems administrators at future dates.