Preservation system for digitally created and digitally signed documents

A method for preserving a digitally signed document ( 160 ) in a digital data preservation system ( 10 ). A secure preservation request ( 176 ) combines the document ( 160 ) with a preservation signature ( 174 ) that is generated using an identification mark ( 172 ) and the document's associated digital signature ( 168 ). Once the document ( 160 ) is authenticated by the digital preservation system vendor, both the document ( 160 ) and the identification mark ( 172 ) are recorded onto preservation media ( 210 ) in human-readable form.