Before anyone complains that I'm not a CA notary, I'll state that everyone in the world has an interest in the notarization laws of every jurisdiction, because anyone could be the victim of a forged notarization that could purport to have happened in any jurisdiction.
I'haven't seen any electronic journal that has all the security features of a paper journal, such as having the signer's signature in a format that looks like the signer's normal handwritten signature, having a fingerprint, or being available even if the notary does not renew the subscription, or being available after the company providing a cloud service goes out of business.
Of course, some of the better online electronic journals provide some security that a paper journal does not provide, such as the cloud company vouching for the time (and sometimes, the place) of a signing, and making it easy to take a picture of the signer.
From the notary's point of view, if one is only allowed to maintain one journal, the notary would not be able to perform notarizations in areas where no internet connectivity is available. If the electronic system captures the place of the signing by using GPS, it would not be possible to complete a notarization inside many buildings. |
