02/09/2006

News / Pennsylvania Logs On to New Statewide eNotarization System

PHILADELPHIA - Pennsylvania entered a new era of secure e-commerce on February 2 with the historic launch of a statewide system for eNotarization powered by the Electronic Notary Seal (ENS) Program - a platform for the authentication of digital documents that offers a level of consumer protection, security and trust that paper-based documents have never been able to provide.
Unveiled during a gala event at the National Constitution Center, dignitaries - including federal, state and county officials, executives from the real estate and finance industries, and technology industry leaders - heralded the arrival of the ENS Program as a best-practice platform for eNotarization that deters fraud in e-commerce while continuing to maintain the property, due process, business and personal rights that our country's founders deemed critical centuries ago.
Pennsylvania state and county officials, in cooperation with the National Notary Association, pioneered the ENS Program and the National eNotary Registry - the first digital management system for Notaries performing electronic notarizations. The package is widely viewed as a national model for potential adoption by other states, governments and industries.
The Electronic Notary Seal is used by Notaries to perform electronic notarizations and enhance the security of electronic transactions. Instead of signing by hand and affixing an official rubber stamp seal, a Notary digitally attaches the Electronic Notary Seal to the electronic document. When applied to an electronic notarization, the ENS enables relying parties to detect additions or alterations to a digital document after it has been notarized.
As of January 30, all commissioned Notaries in Pennsylvania are eligible to purchase and use an Electronic Notary Seal under Phase I of the state's Electronic Notarization Initiative. Recorders of deeds in Chester, Lancaster, Philadelphia and Westmoreland counties are authorized to accept documents that have been electronically notarized by approved Pennsylvania Notaries. The Department of State will evaluate the Initiative after the first six months and consider expanding it to other counties throughout the Commonwealth at the conclusion of Phase I.

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