PDF reports "Secured" or "Unsecured"

[allen worsham]

I have been sending out digitally signed appraisals in secure PDF format for years and never had any problems until today. I have been doing some appraisals for a Law Firm for the past 6 months for bankruptcies and send everything out as a secured PDF file which I convert directly through my Click Forms software. Well, here is the email I got:

Hello Allen,

Had a little question regarding the way you email the appraisals. Is it required by regulations for the PDF to be a secure document? The reason I ask this is because the court cannot accept secured PDFs, and so we have to print out the appraisal and scan it back in. This means we often bump in to the file size limits on the court’s filing servers, whereas if the uploaded PDF was electronically generated, the file size would be smaller and would pass under the limits. Would it be possible for you to send us unprotected copies so that we can upload them directly instead of having to print and scan them in?

So my first reaction is yes, it has to be secured as I need to take every reasonable precaution to protect not only the data in the report but also my signature, so I can only send them secured. But since this is the first time I have ever ran into this question, I wanted to get some input from any others who may have ran into this before I respond to the client.

Thanks.

 

[hastalavista]

What type (level) of security are you applying to your documents before you send them?

 

[LI-Appr]

Today there is no such thing as a secure file. You are only kidding yourself. My daughter can take any PDF amd alter it. Your security is after the fact. Save to a vault and external drive. Digital signatures have been compromised many times. It has happened to me. Not to mention the software available to lenders to convert your PDF into most any format. Then alter it. there is no security, only liability.

 

[Calvin the Airedale]

If I had to guess as to why the court will not accept secured documents it would be because most secured PDFs are written to be read by a version of Acrobat reader that is only one or two versions behind the PDF writer. The court is probably working with a dated Acrobat reader, something that has not been updated since they installed their desktop computers.

Also, they are probably too stupid to understand that Acrobat readers can be updated to current versions for free.

Whenever I have a client tell me they cannot read my secured PDF it is always because they are trying to read it with a dated Acrobat reader.

Try sending your client the above explanation (sans the too stupid remark) along with the following link: http://get.adobe.com/reader/.

Tell them that once they update their readers the secured PDFs will no longer be a problem.

 

[allen worsham]

What type (level) of security are you applying to your documents before you send them?

I have no idea as it is automatically done when I do the conversion from my Click Forms and just shows "Secure" when you open the file so it is whatever level of security that my Adobe does.

As for how effective the security is, I am under no illusions as to the security of anything, though in my limited technical knowledge it would easily stump me. Even though, I would consider it a bare minimum as showing a "reasonable effort" of attempting to make the appraisal secure.

 

[Cob]

Can't you just do it the old way and (gasp) make copies, sign them and mail them or drop them off at their office?

 

[Pamela Crowley (Florida)]

If I had to guess as to why the court will not accept secured documents it would be because most secured PDFs are written to be read by a version of Acrobat reader that is only one or two versions behind the PDF writer. The court is probably working with a dated Acrobat reader, something that has not been updated since they installed their desktop computers.

Also, they are probably too stupid to understand that Acrobat readers can be updated to current versions for free.

Whenever I have a client tell me they cannot read my secured PDF it is always because they are trying to read it with a dated Acrobat reader.

Try sending your client the above explanation (sans the too stupid remark) along with the following link: http://get.adobe.com/reader/.

Tell them that once they update their readers the secured PDFs will no longer be a problem.

Ditto.

Please do not send your report unsecured. Even though there are plenty of ways to hack into it, you sent it locked and someone else broke in.

 

[allen worsham]

Can't you just do it the old way and (gasp) make copies, sign them and mail them or drop them off at their office?

No way! I haven't had to print out a hard copy of a report in over a year.

Thanks for the input folks. I went ahead and replied back to my client that I have to send out the appraisals as a secured PDF file. That's what I was figuring from the word go, but just wanted to chew on it for a bit and make sure that I don't word my response in a negative way. His response back was positive and understanding, so no worries.

Thanks again.

 

[Restrain]

You can secure the signature and edits, but it sounds like you secured it to the level that it can't be saved or reprinted as a PDF. For example, you may have sent the file in as 11122299955.pdf as the file name, and the court needs to save it as Defendant's Appraisal in their system for bookeeping reasons. With a high level of security, they can't do that and causes problems. In this time of edocs, you need to limit the security to signatures and changes, which you can easily do in your Adobe settings.

Don't create problems that you don't have to. As earlier posters have said, PDFs can be cracked. Legitimate users just don't need hassles when using your report, so adjust your settings accordingly.

 

[Jerry Bone Jr]

Is it required by regulations for the PDF to be a secure document?

A "secure pdf" is not a requirement.