Legally, electronic signatures are a thing. Foxit could in theory facilitate your legal signature, provided that software somehow encodes digital evidence that it was you who initiated the “sign” command. For example, they could send a request to a central foxit server and log the response their with your IP address, or they could store an identifying number in the digital file it spits out.
But by printing out the document you have removed that digital evidence. On paper, anyone could have typed your name and date. That’s why paper contracts still need written signatures - the form of the signature at least somewhat provides evidence that you signed the document. Your handwriting on the date and other fields are less important.
To address your question directly, it would be up to the insurance company. They are the ones countersigning and it is at their discretion to require handwriting on the forms. If you end up suing them and claiming that you never signed the contract, they might want your handwriting admitted into the courtroom as evidence.
DSL is still a phone line, so if your PC starts sending actual fax tones over the DSL* the security would be the same. We fax medical records by essentially plugging our fax machines into the DSL modem, which in turn just passes the fax tones through to the telephone company.
But you probably mean using an internet service or sending documents over the internet. That’s totally different, and more comparable to sending documents via email or direct file transfer. There’s potential to be much more secure or much less secure, and it depends on the implementation.
*The PC would need a voice line filter over DSL traffic
What insurance company doesn’t accept documents as attachments to email?
Print them out, sign them, then san them & send as an email attachment. It’s been years since I’ve dealt with a company or government agency who wouldn’t accept that. Many prefer it.
If it’s a form that must be approved or accepted by the insurance company, what matters is what they will accept. My hunch is that a typed date and name below the signature line is fine.
What constitutes an acceptable signature is up to state law but the common law rule is that any mark you make that is your full and intended signature is good. This could be a cursive name, a scribble, a thumbprint, or an “X.” The idea behind the signature is that you have taken an affirmative step to enter the contract. The signature isn’t intended as a form of identification although it is occasionally used that way too. Your blue ink signature is perfectly valid. (And any other color is fine too. My mother was convinced it was illegal to sign a contract in blue ink or pencil. It’s not but in her paralegal training they told her not to take signatures with blue pens. The admonition was reasonable at the time - many old photocopiers wouldn’t pick up blue ink, which could cause a host of inconveniences when copying documents. It had nothing to do with the legality of the contract. Pencil is a bad idea for obvious reasons.)
The insurance company also requests a printed name so they have a clear and legible version of your name. As I noted above, your signature can be an indecipherable squiggle or my illegible cursive, so the printed name clarifies who is purporting to enter the contract. The date specifies when you entered the contract since contract rights usually depend on it. For these purposes, typewritten responses are probably preferred.
As for electronic signatures, there are both state laws and a federal E-Sign Act. The gist of these is generally that electronic signatures in a form that both parties agree to use are as good as paper signatures. For some parties, email is fine, but others require different forms.