Posted by BrendaTx on 6/6/11 5:49am
Msg #385263

No Webcam Appearance List (Rhode Island says "No.")

Rhode Island has been added to the growing list of official statements regarding webcam notarizations. This list will be updated as it changes. Feel free to copy and paste this if you would like to contact your own SoS.

CALIFORNIA (March, 2011)
Link: http://www.sos.ca.gov/business/notary/customer-alert.htm
Text: "Online webcam notarization is invalid and illegal in the State of California. A private company claims to have the first online notarization website and has sent misleading information and made false claims to California notaries public concerning a new online notarization service. The web-based platform purports to allow a person to submit copies of identification over the Internet and to use a webcam in lieu of a personal appearance in front of a notary public. Appearance via webcam does not meet the requirements for notarization in California...."

RHODE ISLAND (June, 2011)
http://sos.ri.gov/business/notary/
"ALERT - Please be advised that pursuant to state law, all Notary Publics authorized to by his Excellency the Governor, may exercise said powers 'within this state'. An individual completing an acknowledgment must do so "before" a person authorized to take acknowledgments under Rhode Island law, including Notaries Public. The Governor of the State of Rhode Island and the Rhode Island Secretary of State have further set forth, by Executive Order, the requirement that the person completing an acknowledgment or seeking other services from the Notary Public must 'appear in person' before the Notary Public. Other electronic means of appearance, such as web cam and Skype, do not comply with the requirements of state law and the Executive Order."

TEXAS (Jan 13, 2011)
Via Email/No link at this time.
Text: "Thank you for bringing this to our attention. Performing a notarization without the signer personally appearing before the notary at the time of the notarization is a Prohibited Act. It is specifically cited as good cause for taking disciplinary action against your notary commission. Tex. Gov’t Code Ann. § 406.009; 1 Tex. Admin. Code § 87.11(a)(16). Appearance by webcam or video conference is not personal appearance. Personal appearance means physically appearing in the presence of the notary."

VIRGINIA (March, 2011)
Link: http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?111+ful+CHAP0731
Text: "...That the provisions of this act relating to the use of video and audio conference technology shall become effective JULY 1, 2012..."
ALERT BY AUTHOR: Still NOT lawful in 2011.
After July 1, 2012, the ID methods are very strict according to the new law: "(i). In the case of an electronic notarization, "satisfactory evidence of identity" may be based on video and audio conference technology, in accordance with the standards for electronic video and audio communications set out in subdivisions B 1, B 2, and B 3 of § 19.2-3.1, that permits the notary to communicate with and identify the principal at the time of the notarial act, provided that such identification is confirmed by (a) personal knowledge, (b) an antecedent in-person identity proofing process in accordance with the specifications of the Federal Bridge Certification Authority, or (c) a valid digital certificate accessed by biometric data or by use of an interoperable Personal Identity Verification card that is designed, issued, and managed in accordance with the specifications published by the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Federal Information Processing Standards Publication 201-1, "Personal Identity Verification (PIV) of Federal Employees and Contractors," and supplements thereto or revisions thereof."

WISCONSIN (May, 2011)
Link: http://www.sos.state.wi.us/NotOnLine.htm
Text: "...Online webcam notarization is invalid and illegal in the State of Wisconsin. A private company claims to have the first online notarization website and has sent misleading information and made false claims to Wisconsin Notaries Public concerning a new online notarization service. The web-based platform purports to allow a person to submit copies of identification over the Internet and to use a webcam in lieu of a personal appearance in front of a Notary Public. Appearance via webcam does not meet the requirements for notarization in Wisconsin..."

Reply by Teresa/FL on 6/6/11 11:53am
Msg #385287

Thanks for compiling and posting this list, Brenda

It's a good resource and always useful to know how other states are handling issues that face us all.

Reply by Susan Fischer on 6/6/11 12:24pm
Msg #385290

Oregon requires physical personal appearance, and I

wish they would put a clarifying statement on its website.

Reply by Susan Fischer on 6/7/11 12:05am
Msg #385343

In my telecon with SOS, she asked for the info, and I

faxed her - she promised to present the examples of other states' clarifications, and, honestly, I haven't checked to see if one's been added. My bad.

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 6/6/11 3:04pm
Msg #385311

Here's the response I received from the FL SOS

Notary Division in response to my inquiry if an opinion was forthcoming from Florida (response was received 5/19/2011:

"Thank you for contacting the Governor’s Notary Section. The physical presence requirement at the time of notarization is still in effect per section 117.107(9), Florida Statutes and there are no exceptions to the presence requirement. "

Reply by BrendaTx on 6/6/11 7:07pm
Msg #385329

Thanks, Linda....I'm adding it to the growing list.

As we have an update come in I will update it and share.

I have a couple of suggestions.

First, that interested notaries write their SoS offices and share the list with them.

Secondly, if there are rumblings around your state about video conferencing laws being put into place and you can't effectively fight it, I would encourage you to share the Virginia law with them. (Hopefully, that is an obvious place to start for lawmakers. However, the longer I live the more I am amazed that people overlook the obvious.)

Personally, I am very comfortable with the Virginia notary law changes. The ID requirements are so strict that only notaries from government agencies and a few corporations will get involved in this. I predict it will be several years before biometric ID technology is affordable to the average person and the average notary.

Reply by GOLDGIRL/CA on 6/6/11 5:20pm
Msg #385321

Thanks for your work on this, Brenda!

By the way, loved the Rhode Island part: "...all Notary Publics (boo! my word) authorized to by his Excellency the Governor... "

His Excellency?!? Holdover from colonial days? Or is this how the current governor wants to be called?

Also, isn't RI where this whole videoscam business started in the first place?

Reply by BrendaTx on 6/6/11 7:08pm
Msg #385330

Certainly, GG.

My hope is that the growing list may be persuasive to other states that haven't taken action on this issue.

Reply by MW/VA on 6/7/11 8:28am
Msg #385346

Thanks, Brenda, for keeping us posted on this issue. I'm

still hoping that VA will realize the stand other states are taking on this BEFORE that goes into effect next year. It is still not legal at this point.

Reply by BrendaTx on 6/7/11 3:09pm
Msg #385384

I believe that the 7/2012 start date is there

for a reason. I feel they want to have time to test this out...but that's just a theory.

Having said that, I work in a quasi government agency that handles a ton of paperwork each day. It would be most helpful if my boss could pop onto webcam and I, by personal knowledge, would notarize her signature. That would save my time, her time and the document would be notarized in a minute and on its way.

The rest of the E-notary stuff is going to be very complicated. A signer will need to have something like a combination of fingerprint, retina scan, a voice print imprinted on a card which is encrypted AND the e-notary MUST have the capability to READ the card on his/her end.

It is very, very sophisticated.

Furthermore, contrary to popular belief, if you have a records clerk swearing to something about medical records and you take a sworn statement and notarize electronically, even if all that fancy ID equipment was available to both the doctor and the notary, that does NOT mean it will be accepted by the recipient. In fact, I do not look for e-notarization to go wide spread into a court room and court records until they iron it out...but that's just me.

So, your basic notarizations from a site like NotaryNotNow.com may or may not be accepted...they look like copies unless the document is being used electronically where the seal can be read. They ware providing a good product, but it's not ready for prime time yet and they certainly don't have the sophisticated equipment to use for IDing folks.

JMIEO

[Just My Inflated Egotistical Opinion]