The Notary Public ...

An age-old public office – the Notary Public – is on the threshold of the twenty-first century. Electronic notarization is taking root across the country and my office is preparing to launch Montana into this new technology frontier. The need is driven by industries asking for help from Notaries in securing electronic transactions. Montana Notaries see this demand and a chance to enter the electronic world with the potential to grow their businesses. We plan to help make that happen.

For many of us, we never think much about a Notary Public until we want to sell a car or buy a home. Yet, we have over 20,000 Notaries doing business across Montana assisting with home purchases, land deals, car trades, school records, and other business transactions. Notaries Public are absolutely indispensable to Montana’s economy. And they’re an important part of the work we do here in the Secretary of State’s office.

Notaries preserve the integrity of everyday transactions. They safeguard society against fraud. If a title is notarized, you know the same is real. If a document is notarized, you know the signatures on it are official. A notary seal on a piece of paper is one layer of protection and means you can trust it.

But what about transactions that never go on paper?

In the modern world, more and more commerce is done online. Electronic or digital documents are increasingly a part of everyday business – indeed, everyday life. How can we preserve integrity in those documents? How can we safeguard them against fraud?

My office has begun the work that will lead toward electronic notarizations. We need proper procedures for electronically notarizing a digital document. We need guidelines for when “eNotarization” is allowed. We need to provide accountability to the public in order to promote secure electronic commerce.

In many states, including Pennsylvania, Florida, North Carolina, Arizona, and Virginia, eNotarization measures have been put in place legislatively. Pennsylvania was the first jurisdiction in the nation to implement a statewide eNotarization initiative in 2006 and has 19 participating county recorders. The National Association of Secretaries of State adopted national eNotarization standards in 2006. Florida was among the first states to include these standards with the passage of legislation in 2007. This exciting, cutting-edge technology is gaining momentum as a desirable business model. We look forward to working with the Montana legislature in 2009 to enact laws that will allow this practice in our state.

So how does it work?

Every eNotary will get a unique electronic seal and signature that is solely under their control. That electronic seal and signature will be used to “eNotarize” a document. They will be verifiable, and they will be applied to the document in such a way as to reveal any changes made after they were applied. Imagine the electronic seal and signature as being “wrapped” around the document. If the document is opened and changed, that wrap is broken and an electronic alert is generated.

An eNotarization will still require a personal appearance. This is absolutely key to confirming an individual’s identity and establishing that they are performing the transaction willingly and in full awareness. Those elements are crucial to the integrity preserved by Notaries.

Secure eNotarizations promise to be a time saver for individuals and businesses alike. Just as exciting are the new career opportunities it brings for Notaries and the chance it provides to increase their business. In the end, this is just another tool to accomplish the same thing as notarizing on paper. The means may change and new skills will need to be learned, but the mission remains the same: keep our transactions safe and trustworthy. It’s a job Montana’s Notaries have always done very well. I know that won’t change either.