Posted by FlaNotary2 on 3/29/12 3:57pm
Msg #416504

Notary journal... There's an app for that

I recently came across an iPhone app called iNotary. Similar to the NNA's Enjoa, the app lets you record all the information regarding notarization and let's the signer use their finger to sign their name on your iPhone. It also lets you take a picture of the signer and attach it to the journal entry. It says that it lets you manage the journal entries from www.myinotary.com.

Pricing plans depend on number of entries. It is $35 per year for unlimited. The app itself is free.

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 3/29/12 6:34pm
Msg #416512

" It says that it lets you manage the journal entries from www.myinotary.com. "

Curious how this would satisfy the "sole and complete control" responsibility of the notary with respect tonotary journal. And are the entries encrypted to protect PII??

I, personally, wouldn't use it...

JMHO

Reply by FlaNotary2 on 3/29/12 6:40pm
Msg #416514

They claim that the entries are encrypted and that

everything is totally secure. It is a neat idea... not completely sure that I want to do it. I really like my paper journals. But at least this is a truly mobile electronic journal - Enjoa had to be used hooked to a computer. I gave iNotary a test run it works pretty well.

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 3/29/12 6:43pm
Msg #416515

I don't know...I'm really leary of transmitting

signers' PII to a remote location for storage.

What do you do if someone requests a copy of a journal entry? You can only certify to it if you make the copy of it..

Not being nitpicky...just curious..

Reply by FlaNotary2 on 3/29/12 6:44pm
Msg #416516

It lets you print entries as PDFs... as for certifying them,

not sure.

Reply by Glenn Strickler on 3/30/12 11:41am
Msg #416604

Nothing electronic is secure ......

Plus I saw that app sometime back, ran it by my attorney who I work for frequently. It was a no.


Disclaimer: Just because I mentioned what my attorney said doesn't make it so for your situation. Best thing to do before you use it is to see an attorney who is an expert on the laws of your state.

Reply by LKT/CA on 3/29/12 8:58pm
Msg #416532

What about signer thumbprints ?

In CA, POAs and deeds (except deeds of reconveyance) require thumbprints in the journal, what is iNotary's solution for that?

Reply by Marian_in_CA on 3/29/12 10:44pm
Msg #416537

Is says, "Coming Soon" for that n/m

Reply by LKT/CA on 3/30/12 12:48am
Msg #416551

Re: Is says, "Coming Soon" for that

Another problem will be for notaries who are not renewing (CA). The county recorder is expecting hard copy journals to be turned in - they don't have the software setup (to store, encrypt and extract information) for online journals. This may be the way of the future but CA is too broke to implement this any time soon.

Reply by Gabriel Orozco on 8/13/12 10:32pm
Msg #430368

Re: Is says, "Coming Soon" for that

Inotary lets you print all your records from their web site, they are stored in PDF format.

Reply by Gabriel Orozco on 8/13/12 10:30pm
Msg #430367

Re: What about signer thumbprints ?

Just talk to Andrew from INotary yesterday they are working on a device to use it in the iphone to get the thumbprints so latter this year will be an option, also Android version is going to be available soon.

Reply by BarbaraL_CA on 3/29/12 11:13pm
Msg #416543

I'm a real techie junkie, but..

I don't think I would be ready for an app for a journal. Think it's safer to use paper journal and keep in your possession. I haven't heard of hackers hacking into a paper journal.

Reply by BowmanServices.net on 3/29/12 11:43pm
Msg #416547

Re: I'm a real techie junkie, but..

According to CA SOS enotaries are NOT vaild in California

Reply by Marian_in_CA on 3/30/12 2:56am
Msg #416557

Not quite...

Electronic notarizations by WEBCAM are not valid. This is not the same is using an electronic journal or an electronic seal, both of which are perfectly legal in California.

Electronic journals are perfectly legitimate in California, provided they record everything that CA notary law requires for each entry. I know several notaries that have electronic journals... though they are all stationary notaries at banks or pack and ship stores. I have heavily researched the possibility of going electronic... but haven't done it yet for many reasons. But, the clerk said that I could submit a PDF on disc of my journal if it came from an electronic journal. The one I was looking at (not the NNA one) had a function for exporting the journal to PDF or to print the whole thing out on paper.

Electronic notary seals are also allowed... but they should only be used by tech savvy notaries who know what they are doing in order to keep their seals secure. I have an e-seal (got it here from NotRot) and I use it all the time. This is NOT the same as the electronic journal -- totally different concept.

Reply by VT_Syrup on 3/30/12 8:37am
Msg #416575

eseal

I don't know what requirement California has for an eseal. My state does not require a seal at all, so obviously I don't need any kind of eseal.

In principle, there are two things that could be called an eseal. There is the one, like that sold by Notary Rotary, that is just an image of one's stamp. In some states it could be placed in a document before printing. I don't know if notaries do that very often, but engineers and land surveyors do it in many states for engineering drawings and plats. It's really just another way of applying the seal to the paper.

Sometimes a public key infrastructure (PKI) digital signature is called an eseal. This is a cousin of the SSL links that are used for on-line banking. Once applied, anyone with the right software (built in to Word and Adobe Reader) can check that not a single letter of the document has been altered since the PKI signature was applied. My state allows, but does not require, this for notaries. My state allows even a typed signature, as just typing my name in a Word document, as an electronic notary signature (shiver). A PKI digital signature does not look anything like a seal or a handwritten signature; it is a long number that the word processing software will not show you. Instead, the word processing software will inspect the number and show an indication of whether the PKI digital signature is valid or not.


In the paper world, journals are supposed to be bound and the pages pre-numbered, to make it harder to backdate documents. In the eworld, there is a dilemma: you'd like an independent party to verify that the notarizations really occurred on the dates indicated, but you don't want to send confidential information to the independent party. This is possible, but no widely adopted solution has emerged.

Reply by FlaNotary2 on 3/30/12 9:46am
Msg #416586

The eNotarizations I have done involved submitting a

document on to a secure server, having the signer type their name into the document, having the notary affix his or her electronic notary seal and signature to the document, and then having the document - with all types of security features, as required in Florida - e-mailed to the signer.

Easy as pie. Not advertising - and I no longer have the subscription because it is not economically feasible for me at this time - but the best electronic notarization provider, IMHO, is DocVerify.com. It is extremely easy to use, an 100% compliant with Florida law.

Reply by Susan Fischer on 3/30/12 10:32am
Msg #416592

Enjoa-esque products can't be used in Oregon. n/m