A few more points of concern with AB 199 I wanted to make everyone aware of:
AB 199 permits “audio and video" recording as an acceptable method for identifying the signer. A notary’s duty is to ensure that the signer is competent, is not being coerced, and is signing the document freely and willingly. How can a notary using a webcam to perform a notarial act for an elderly person (for instance) ensure that the signer has not been coerced into signing a will or power of attorney by a criminally-minded family member or health care provider? The source of coercion may be present in the same room or nearby but not visible to the webcam notary. Furthermore, how can a notary ensure that an identification card has not been tampered with without actually physically inspecting it? It cannot be done.
Ultimately, this bill will create liability issues for notaries. Notaries are required to ensure the signer is not signing under duress. In regards to some documents, like POA’s and contracts for example, duress can mitigate the valid execution of these agreements, and notaries will find themselves dealing with endless legal battles for notarizing documents without being able to ensure the signer was signing of his or her own free will. The requirement that the signer be physically present is the basis of every notarial act, is necessary to ensure a valid notarization and has been for over 2000 years.
Jurisdiction Issues. This bill states “An online notary public physically located in this state may perform an online notarization for a principal singer located in this state, outside this state and outside the United States if the online notary public has no actual knowledge that the act is prohibited in the jurisdiction in which the principal is physically located at the time of the act.”
William Fritzlen, on behalf of the U.S. State Department has expressed concern to the uniform law commission that foreign countries may consider remote notarizations to infringe on their sovereignty. Beyond the implications on bilateral relations, the State Department has explained that Switzerland, and countries like it, may prosecute American citizens who obtain a remote notarization while in that foreign country. Furthermore, Iowa and WV have explicitly stated in their code that an individual does not appear personally if the appearance is by video or audio technology, they may also consider remote notarization to be an infringement on their state’s rights and prosecute notaries performing remote notarizations in their state.
So, AB 199 imposes an enormous new duty upon notaries to confirm the location of signers and to know the laws of all 50 states in the union and 195 sovereign states on the planet. How would an online notary know if a remote signer is half way around the globe or a half a block down the street? This bill puts an enormous amount of undue liability on notaries and their signers.
Data Privacy. Currently, information collected in a notary transaction, which is a written process, is maintained by the notary but not shared or put on the internet and sold. AB 199 states that an online notary public shall keep an electronic journal and record each online notarial act performed by the online notary public, including: ID information, signature, location and the character of every document notarized. The signer must also upload a copy of every document being notarized. This bill does nothing to protect signers data. In its current form, this bill will allow the sharing or sale of information that has never before existed within the notary process. This bill also does not address the length of time transactional data must be stored. Without closing these doors, they’re virtually wide open.
Disenfranchised Constituents. This bill calls for a fee of $25 for performing an online-notary act yet, California notaries are limited to $15 fees for paper notarial acts. AB199 will contribute to ageism and classism because online notary services appeal to the young and affluent. If the big three online notary companies from VA dominate the notary business as they intend to do, millions of Californians will be disenfranchised.
Based on the facts above, you can see the imminent harm that will be caused to notarial acts performed in this state, to your constituents, businesses and to the public at large. The stakeholders of this bill have zero respect for the notarial process and going ahead with this bill is essentially turning the office of notary public into an online rubber stamp clearinghouse.
PLEASE vote no on AB 199.