Glossary

Each term appears with its English name as used in the API, its Spanish name (the one the law and the Spanish application use) and, where it applies, the label the application shows. The links lead to the page that explains it in detail.

The model

• Organization (organización). The bb-sign customer. It groups users, workspaces, envelopes, the seal certificate, API credentials and webhooks. Each organization’s data is isolated from every other organization’s. See Organizations, workspaces and roles.
• Workspace (espacio de trabajo). A division of the organization that holds envelopes. Each person or credential has a role in each workspace. In the application: “Workspace”.
• General. The workspace every organization has from the moment it is created. Every member of the organization takes part in it as a contributor; that role is fixed.
• Role (rol). The set of actions someone can perform. There are organization roles (administrator, member, API credential) and workspace roles (viewer, auditor, contributor, manager). See Permissions matrix.
• Envelope (sobre). The unit of work: one or more PDF documents, one or more signers and the sending options (order, one-time code, link validity, expiry). See Envelopes and signers.
• Signer (firmante). The person who must sign an envelope. Identified by their email; no bb-sign account needed.
• Sign order (orden de firma). Each signer’s turn when the envelope uses sequential signing. Signers in the same turn sign in parallel.
• Label (etiqueta). A key and value pair the organization defines and assigns to its envelopes to filter them. See Labels.
• Archived (archivados). The view that completed, cancelled or expired envelopes move to once a set period has passed since their creation. It organizes the envelope list and is independent of the retention policy. See Archived envelopes.

Signature, seal and evidence

• Firma electrónica (electronic signature). bb-sign’s signature mechanism: a reliable method that identifies the signer and records their approval. See How bb-sign signatures are valid.
• Firma digital (digital signature). A legal figure distinct from electronic signature, based on a personal certificate issued to the signer by an ECD. See How bb-sign signatures are valid.
• Signature (firma). In bb-sign, the mark the signer draws or types, stamped into the document with their name, email and the date. See Electronic signature and seal.
• Seal (sello). The cryptographic signature bb-sign applies to each document when the envelope completes, with the organization’s certificate. It guarantees the document’s integrity and shows which organization sealed it; the signer’s identity is established by the evidence. See Your own certificate.
• One-time code (OTP, código de un solo uso). The numeric code the signer receives by email and types before signing, when the organization requires it on the envelope. See Review and verify identity.
• Audit trail (cadena de auditoría). The hash-chained record of everything that happened to an envelope: who, what, when and from where. See Evidence and audit.
• Verify (verificación). The public check, through a QR code, that a seal matches the organization’s active certificate. See Verify a signed document.

Integration

• API credential (credencial de API). An ID and a secret a system uses to call the API on the organization’s behalf. The secret is shown once. See API credentials.
• Webhook. An HTTPS URL of your organization to which bb-sign sends a signed notice when an event happens (envelope sent, completed, cancelled or expired; signer viewed or signed). See Webhooks.
• Delivery (entrega). Each notice bb-sign sends to a webhook for an event. See Statuses.

Certificates and entities

• ECD (Entidad de Certificación Digital). An entity accredited in Colombia to issue digital certificates. The organization’s seal certificate is purchased from an ECD.
• ONAC (Organismo Nacional de Acreditación de Colombia). The body that accredits ECDs. Its directory lists the accredited entities.
• AATL (Adobe Approved Trust List). The list of issuers Adobe Acrobat trusts by default. Outside Colombia, the seal certificate is purchased from one of its members.
• PKCS#12 (.p12, .pfx). The file format that packages a certificate, its chain and the private key protected by a password. It is the format bb-sign uses to seal.
• Certificate chain (cadena de certificación). The organization’s certificate together with the intermediate certificates and the root that back it.