18 NCAC 07F .0102          DEFINITIONS

In addition to terms defined in Article 1 of Chapter 10B of the General Statutes and Subchapter 07B of this Chapter, and for purposes of Article 2 of Chapter 10B of the General Statutes and this Subchapter:

(1)           "Applicant" means a person applying for registration as a North Carolina electronic notary.

(2)           "Approved Electronic Notary Solution Provider" means a person or entity approved to provide an Electronic Notarization System by the Department pursuant to Article 2 of Chapter 10B of the General Statutes and Article 1A of Chapter 47 of the General Statutes.

(3)           "Biometric Authentication" means proving the identity of a user by requiring verification of the user's identity through technologies that require measurement and analysis of one or more human physiological or behavioral characteristics of the user in order to access and use an electronic notarization system. Biometric authentication technologies include fingerprint scanning devices, retinal scanning devices, and handwriting analysis devices.

(4)           "Department" means the North Carolina Department of the Secretary of State. Unless specifically noted in rule text, for the purposes of this Subchapter "Department" means the notary public section of the Department's certification and filing division.

(5)           "Electronic Notarization System" means a set of applications, programs, hardware, software, or technology designed to enable a notary to perform electronic notarizations.

(6)           "Independently Verifiable" means capable of government or third-party authentication of a notarial act, a notary's identity, and a notary's relevant authority.

(7)           "Password Authentication" means requiring the user to enter a secret word, phrase, or symbol set in order to access and use an electronic notarization system.

(8)           "Token Authentication" means requiring use of a physical device in addition to a password or personal identification number ("PIN" number) in order to access and use an electronic notarization system. Physical devices used in token authentication technologies include magnetic cards or "smart cards" and Universal Serial Bus (USB) memory sticks or "USB keys".

(9)           "Under the exclusive control of the notary", for the purposes of the Department's interpretation of the requirements of G.S. 10B-126(b), means "under the notary public's sole control" as defined in this subchapter.

(10)         "Under the notary public's sole control" means accessible by and attributable solely to the notary to the exclusion of all other persons and entities, either through being in the direct physical custody of the notary or through being secured with one or more biometric, password, token, or other authentication technologies in an electronic notarization system provided by an approved electronic notary solution provider approved pursuant to the Act and this Subchapter.

History Note:        Authority G.S. 10B-125(b), 10B-126(d); 47-16.5; 47‑16.7; 147-36; 15 USC 7002;

Eff. January 1, 2007;

Pursuant to G.S. 150B-21.3A, rule is necessary without substantive public interest Eff. December 6, 2016;

Transferred from 18 NCAC 07C .0102 Eff. June 1, 2023.