How are petition signatures validated?
Unlike the various flaky email petitions that periodically wander around the Internet, with PetitionOnline there is exactly one authoritative master copy of your petition. Each signature and email address (always required, but optionally confidential) is logged for possible explicit or statistical validation. Duplicate signatures are automatically rejected, and each person who signs is automatically sent a confirming email message.
Validation is a somewhat separate issue from delivery. Delivery will only include the email addresses of petition signers who have made their address public ally available. (A petition could be set up so that public email addresses are required, but it would be likely to get far fewer signers.)
If deeper validation of a petition is really called for, PetitionOnline.com has the technical ability to perform a statistical validation by contacting a sampling of signers directly via the email addresses we have privately archived. This kind of more serious validation is not included in our free petition hosting offer, but can be arranged on a cost-contract basis (see below).
Ensuring identity without invading privacy is quite a challenge. We don't see that a perfect solution is currently available, given that there is not yet any widespread foolproof system for establishing online identity. An email address is not enough to establish identity by itself, but it is substantially more than just a name, and it provides a link back to a person for (the potential of) confirming identity.