As used in this article, the following terms have the following meanings:

(a) “Audio-video communication” means being able to see, hear, and communicate with another individual in real time using electronic means in a manner that conforms to the requirements of this article and any rules or regulations adopted by the Secretary of State pursuant to this article.

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(b) “Audio-video recording” means a recording of the audio-video communication of an online notarial act required by Section 8231.6.

(c) “Credential” means a government-issued record evidencing an individual’s identity that satisfies the requirements of paragraph (3) or (4) of subdivision (b) of § 1185 of the Civil Code.

(d) “Credential analysis” means a process or service operating according to the requirements of this article and any rules or regulations adopted by the Secretary of State pursuant to this article, through which a third party affirms the validity of a credential through review of public and proprietary data sources.

(e) “Depository” means an individual or entity that has an active registration with the Secretary of State pursuant to Section 8231.14 and is capable of storing a journal entry or audio-video recording on behalf of a notary public.

(f) “Electronic” means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities.

(g) “Electronic journal” means an active sequential record of official acts performed while using an online notarization system performed by a person acting as a notary public authorized to perform online notarization maintained in a secure electronic format according to the requirements of this article and any rules or regulations adopted by the Secretary of State pursuant to this article.

(h) “Electronic online notarial certificate” means the part of, or attachment to, an electronic record that is completed by the notary public authorized to perform online notarization and contains both of the following:

(1) The notary public’s electronic signature and electronic seal or, where applicable, the notary public’s electronic signature that meets the requirements of subdivision (f) of Section 27391.

(2) The facts attested to by the notary public in the particular online notarization.

(i) “Electronic record” means a record created, generated, sent, communicated, received, or stored by electronic means.

(j) “Electronic seal” means information within a notarized electronic record that corresponds to information in notary seals used on paper records and that, where applicable, conforms to the requirement of this article, including, but not limited to, subdivision (b) of Section 8231.7 and any rules or regulations adopted by the Secretary of State pursuant to this article.

(k) “Electronic signature” means an electronic sound, symbol, or process attached to or logically associated with an electronic record and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the electronic record.

(l) “Encrypt” or “encrypted” means rendered unusable, unreadable, or indecipherable to an unauthorized person through a security technology or methodology generally accepted in the field of information security.

(m) “Express written request” means a request made in writing and initiated by a principal to access, use, share, sell, disclose, produce, provide, release, transfer, disseminate, or otherwise communicate the specified information for a specific purpose. The nature of the access, use, sharing, sale, disclosure, production, provision, release, transfer, dissemination, or other communication shall be conveyed to the principal in clear and prominent terms in such a manner that an ordinary principal would notice and understand it. Express consent cannot be inferred.

(n) “Identity proofing” means a process or service operating according to the requirements of this article and any rules or regulations adopted by the Secretary of State pursuant to this article through which a third party affirms the identity of an individual through review of personal information from public or proprietary data sources.

(o) “Notarial act” means the performance of an act by an individual that is authorized under the laws of this state, including acts described in Sections 8202, 8205, this article, and Sections 1185 and 1195 of the Civil Code.

(p) “Notary public’s electronic signature” means an electronic signature that does both of the following:

(1) Meets the requirements of this article and any rules or regulations adopted by the Secretary of State pursuant to this article.

(2) Includes an image of the notary public’s handwritten signature, as required to be provided to the Secretary of State under subdivision (d) of Section 8231.7.

(q) “Open format” means information that is formatted in a manner that is platform independent, machine readable, and made available to the public without restrictions that would impede the reuse of that information.

(r) “Online notarization” and “online notarial act” mean a notarial act performed by a notary public authorized to perform online notarization by means of an online notarization system that meets the requirements of this article and any rules or regulations adopted by the Secretary of State pursuant to this article, if the record that is the subject of the notarial act is an electronic record.

(s) “Online notarization platform” means an individual or entity that has an active registration with the Secretary of State pursuant to Section 8231.14 and provides an online notarization system to a notary public authorized to perform online notarization.

(t) “Online notarization system” means the computer hardware and software that enable a notary public to do both of the following:

(1) Perform an online notarial act by means of audio-video communication.

(2) Create an audio-video recording and a corresponding entry for the appropriate electronic journal for each online notarial act performed as described in paragraph (1).

(u) “Principal” means an individual, other than a credible witness pursuant to § 1185 of the Civil Code, whose electronic signature is notarized, or whose oath or affirmation is taken by a notary public, during an online notarization.

(v) “Record” means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in both physical and electronic form.

(w) “Records of online notarial acts” means, collectively, the electronic journal entries required by Section 8231.5 and the audio-video recordings required by Section 8231.6.

(x) “Remote presentation” means transmission to the notary public through audio-video communication of an image of a government-issued identification that complies with paragraph (3) or (4) of subdivision (b) of § 1185 of the Civil Code that is of sufficient quality to enable the notary public to identify the individual seeking the notary public’s services. Remote presentation shall conform to the standards of this article and any rules or regulations adopted by the Secretary of State pursuant to this article.

(y) “United States” means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.

(Added by Stats. 2023, Ch. 291, Sec. 8. (SB 696) Effective January 1, 2024.)