The National Association of Secretaries of State adopted remote notary standards drafted by a task force chaired by Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes. Secretary of State Grimes has led the task force since it was convened in April, 2016, and the Notary Public Administrators have been active participants in the effort. The electronic notarization standards are designed to support transactional security, the privacy of the document signers, and the traditional assurances of the notarial act. Currently, only four states have authorized remote notarization: Montana, Nevada, Texas, and Virginia. Although Florida also allows webcam notarization, the practice is limited to certain law enforcement and correctional officers. However, many states are considering remote notarization in 2018.
Remote notarization, also known as online notarization or webcam notarization, differs from electronic notarization in that remote authorization allows the signer to personally appear before the Notary at the time of notarization using audio-visual technology over the internet. Electronic notarization, or eNotarization, is a nearly identical process to paper notarization, except the document being notarized is in digital form and the Notary signs with an electronic signature.