Throughout history, society has lacked the ability to confirm whether documents and authorizations have been executed by the intended person. While eSignature has accelerated business, it has failed to address this problem, because it is only as secure as the email address the documents have been sent to. Businesses have to rely on evidence that is not attached to the digital document in order to decide if they should trust it. Industries are recognizing this threat, with FINRA Regulatory Notice 22-18 warning of fraud and forgery in third-party digital signature platforms.
Notaries help address this problem, certifying documents by applying their notarial seal. However, even in the paper world, a notary’s seal can be stolen. It is impossible to know if the stamp on the document means it was executed by the notary listed or by a fraudulent actor. Sadly, this happens all the time, with cases making the news in New York, Philadelphia, and countless other communities across the country.
While online notarization has fundamentally improved the verification and auditability of who signed using advanced identity tools and video recording, the challenge of securing the notary’s digital seal has remained unaddressed. Just as someone can steal a notary’s physical stamp, they could steal their digital certificate too. And worse, they could apply it to hundreds or even thousands of documents without any security or protection. The online notarization industry has simply relied on notaries to personally secure their digital stamp just like their physical stamp in the desk drawer.
Proof Certificates make verification of the integrity of a digital transaction much stronger than paper documents. Proof Certificates are only issued to notaries when their identity has been verified. Notarizations signed with Proof have been audited to meet WebTrust standards so a business can be sure that the notary is really a commissioned notary and not someone else. Proof Certificates are instantly distinguishable because documents signed with Proof will show a green checkmark in Adobe Reader.
“Proof is the only notarization platform that is trusted by Adobe, because we’re issuing certificates that meet an incredibly high security standard. Proof documents have a legal identity that you can instantly trust,” said Pat Kinsel, CEO of Proof. “Rather than rubbing a document in hopes of feeling someone’s identity through a raised seal like an ancient mystic, a digital document provides cryptographic evidence that this was signed by the notary and the notary seal is real.”
In May, Proof Certificates will be available to every independent notary within the Notarize Network at no cost. The certificates are natively integrated within the Proof Platform and issued seamlessly during a notary’s registration to the Notarize Network. Proof Certificates will be deployed across the entire Proof Platform in the months to come as existing members of the Notarize Network migrate when their existing certificates expire and renew.
About Proof
Proof (formerly Notarize) is helping to secure the digital economy. As more critical commerce shifts from in-person to online, companies need to be able to trust who is behind every digital interaction. As a pioneer of remote online notarization, Proof has built the largest network of professional notaries. The Notarize Network has thousands of compliant and approved notaries. The average wait time for a notary is less than a second. Every year, millions of customers in all 50 states trust the Notarize Network to notarize important documents or to verify their identity. With industry-leading compliance and built-in fraud prevention tools, Proof secures trust at every customer touchpoint using a transaction platform that cryptographically binds verified legal identity to signatures, documents, and data. Proof is trusted by more than 7,000 organizations, from some of the largest brands in financial services to small businesses. Proof’s platform serves a wide range of industries, from estate planning to property management, retirement, health care, construction, legal, credit unions, small business lending, and government. For more information, visit https://www.proof.com.
Media Contact
Lauren Hintz, Proof, 1 617-909-3295, [email protected], https://www.proof.com/
SOURCE Proof
