Section 1360-07-03-.04 - ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE AND SEAL(1) An online notary public must use the same electronic signature for all online notarial acts performed by the online notary public.(2) An online notary public must use the same electronic seal for all online notarial acts performed by the online notary public, and a copy of such seal must be provided to the Department of State at the time of the online notary public's application for certification as an online notary public. The name on the online notary public seal must match the name, as stated on the application, under which the online notary public is commissioned and performs all notarial acts.(3) An online notary public shall use an electronic seal that substantially conforms to the following design: a circular, square, or rectangular seal with the notary public's name as it appears on the commission printed at the top, the county of election printed at the bottom, the words "State of Tennessee Notary Public" or "Tennessee Notary Public" printed in the center, and the words "Online Notary Public" printed below. The electronic seal must also be accompanied by a statement of the date upon which the online notary public's commission expires. A sample seal format appears below: Click to view Image
(4) An online notary public must attach or logically associate his or her electronic signature and seal to the electronic notarial certificate in a manner that is capable of independent verification and renders any subsequent change or modification to the electronic document evident.(5) The online notary public must use technology from a third-party provider who has provided the online notary public with evidence of its ability to provide an electronic technology standard that utilizes Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) technology from a PKI service provider that is X.509 compliant.(6) The electronic notarial certificate for an online notarization must contain a notation that the notarization is an online notarization, which may be satisfied by affixing the online notary public's seal to the electronic notarial certificate. The acknowledgment contained within the electronic notarial certificate must also contain a statement that the principal "personally appeared before me by audio-video communication" or "personally appeared by audio-video communication" or "before me appeared by audio-video communication".(7) The online notary public's electronic notarial certificate, electronic signature, and electronic seal must remain within the exclusive control of the online notary public (including control by means of use of a password) at all times and shall be used only for the purpose of performing online notarial acts.(8) The online notary public must provide any necessary instruction or techniques supplied by a vendor that allow the online notary public's electronic notarial certificate and seal to be read and authenticated. If at any time the online notary public adopts a new or additional technology or vendor with which to perform online notarial acts, the online notary public must notify the Department of State of the new or additional technology, signature and/or seal, as well as any additional information that may be requested by the Department of State.
Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1360-07-03-.04
Emergency rules filed April 15, 2019; effective through October 12, 2019. Emergency rules expired effective October 13, 2019, and the chapter reverted to its previous status. Original rules filed October 9, 2019; effective 1/7/2020.Authority: T.C.A. §§ 8-16-301, et seq. (Public Chapter 931, effective April 18, 2018).