Notaries public

The law permits secure electronic signatures for regular notarial acts and adds safeguards, fees, records rules, and privacy duties for online notarization. It also requires written exams for new and renewing notaries.

What the law does ​

• Requires applicants and renewing notaries to pass a Secretary of State-written exam, alongside required education courses.
• Allows notaries to use electronic signatures for authorized acts if the signature matches their official oath and is protected with multifactor authentication.
• Requires electronic notary seals to be encrypted, secured, and kept exclusively under the notary’s control.
• Sets a $100 permit fee for notary-seal manufacturers and vendors.
• Requires Secretary of State review of vendors’ online-notarization education courses.
• Requires online-notarization platforms and depositories to register initially and renew annually, with $5,000 initial, $1,000 renewal, and $50 update fees.
• Requires platforms and depositories to meet security, record-retention, data-access, breach-notice, and advance business-change notice requirements.
• Bars online-notary fees unless the notarial act is completed, except for a limited technology fee when a session ends for specified reasons.
• Requires the Secretary of State to publish and regularly update a list of registered online-notarization platforms and depositories.

Who it affects ​

• California notary applicants, commissioned notaries, and notaries authorized to perform online notarizations.
• Online-notarization platforms, record depositories, and electronic-seal manufacturers and vendors.
• People obtaining notarization services, including people using online notarization.

Context ​

Online notarization cannot begin until the Secretary of State adopts implementing rules and completes the required technology project under existing law.