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AK Administrative Rules (2020)

Rule/Regulation

State: Alaska

Effective: January 01, 2021

Summary
The Alaska Lieutenant Governor has adopted final rules to implement remote online notarization in Alaska.
Affects
Adds Sections 010, 020, 030, 040, 050, and 990 to Title 6, Chapter 88 of the Alaska Administrative Code.
Changes

Definitions

  1. Defines “credential analysis” with the same meaning given in AS 44.50.075(b)(l)(C)(ii).
  2. Defines “electronic record” with the same meaning given in AS 09.80.190.
  3. Defines “identification credential” as a non-expired passport, driver's license, or form of government-issued identification document that contains the signature and photograph of the individual.
  4. Defines “multi-factor authentication” as a security system that requires more than one method of authentication from independent categories of credentials to verify the user's identity for a login or other transaction.
  5. Defines “notarial certificate” as the portion of a notarized document that is completed by a Notary and that bears the Notary’s signature, seal and language as required by law.
  6. Defines “person” as having the meaning given in AS 01.10.060.
  7. Defines “personal knowledge” as a Notary’s knowledge of an individual appearing before the Notary based on dealings sufficient to provide reasonable certainty that the individual has the identity claimed.
  8. Defines “real time” as the actual span of uninterrupted, simultaneous communication using audio-video feeds during which all parts of an online notarial act occur excluding issues or buffering that does not materially affect the substantive communication between the Notary and the individual.
  9. Defines “remote online notarization” or “remote notarial act” as a notarial act performed by means of communication technology under the rules.
  10. Defines “remote presentation” as transmission to a Notary through communication technology of an image of a remotely located individual's identification credential that is of sufficient quality to enable the Notary Public to reasonably identify the remotely located individual and to perform credential analysis.

Notary Commission and RON Registration

  1. Provides that the application fee for a Notary commission is $40.
  2. Provides that the application fee to perform notarial acts using communication technology for remotely located individuals is $100 for an initial Notary Public commission.
  3. Provides that if a Notary is commissioned under AS 44.50.010 at the time the Notary Public applies to perform remote notarial acts, the application fee is $25 for each remaining year of the Notary’s commission.

Identification of Remotely Located Individuals

  1. Provides that a Notary has satisfactory evidence of the identity of a remotely located individual if the Notary has personal knowledge of the individual or if the individual is identified by oath or affirmation of a credible witness.
  2. Requires a credible witness used to identify a remotely located individual to (a) have personal knowledge of the witness; or (b) be identified by the Notary through the Notary’s personal knowledge of the witness or through a multi-factor authentication procedure described below.
  3. Authorizes a credible witness to be outside the physical presence of the Notary or remotely located individual if the Notary, credible witness, and remotely located individual can communicate by using communication technology.
  4. Requires a Notary who does not have satisfactory evidence of the identity of a remotely located individual to use a multi-factor authentication procedure to identify the individual as provided in the rules.
  5. Requires the multi-factor procedure to analyze the individual's identification credential that is the subject of remote presentation against trusted third-party data sources, bind the individual's identity to the individual following successful knowledge-based authentication assessment, and permit the Notary to visually compare the identification credential and the individual.
  6. Requires credential analysis and identity proofing to be performed by a reputable third party that has provided evidence to the Notary of its ability to satisfy the requirements of the rules.
  7. Requires credential analysis to use public or private data sources to confirm the validity of the identification credential that is the subject of remote presentation by a remotely located individual and must, at a minimum, (a) use automated software processes to aid the Notary Public in verifying the identity of each remotely located individual; (b) require the identification credential to pass an authenticity test, consistent with sound commercial practices, that uses appropriate technologies to confirm the integrity of visual, physical, or cryptographic security features, and to confirm that the identification credential is not fraudulent or inappropriately modified; (c) use information held or published by the issuing source or an authoritative source, as available and consistent with sound commercial practices, to confirm the validity of personal details and identification credential details; and (d) enable the Notary Public to visually compare for consistency the information and photograph on the identification credential and the remotely located individual as viewed by the Notary Public in real time through communication technology.
  8. Authorizes identity proofing to be performed by means of a knowledge-based authentication assessment.  
  9. Provides a knowledge-based authentication assessment must meet the following requirements: (a) the remotely located individual must answer a quiz of a minimum of five questions related to the individual's personal history or identity formulated from public or private data sources; (b) each question must have a minimum of five possible answer choices; (c) at least 80 percent of the questions must be answered correctly; (d) all questions must be answered within two minutes; (e) if the remotely located individual fails the first attempt, the individual may retake the quiz one time within 24 hours; (f) during a retake of the quiz, a minimum of 40 percent of the prior questions must be replaced; (g) if the remotely located individual fails the second attempt, the individual is not allowed to retry with the same online Notary Public until at least 24 hours after the second failed attempt; and (h) the Notary may not be able to see or record the questions or answers.

Standards for Communication Technology

  1. Requires communication technology to provide for synchronous audio-video feeds of sufficient video resolution and audio clarity to enable the notary and remotely located individual to see and speak with each other in real time.
  2. Requires the process to provide a means for the notary to reasonably confirm that a record before the notary is the same record in which the remotely located individual made a statement or on which the remotely located individual executed a signature.
  3. Requires communication technology to provide reasonable security measures to prevent unauthorized access to (a) the live transmission of the audio-video feeds; (b) the methods used to perform the identity proofing; and (c) the electronic record that is the subject of the remote online notarization.
  4. Provides that if a remotely located individual leaves the online notarization session before the completion of the identity verification process, the individual must restart the identity proofing process from the beginning.

Notarial Certificate for RON

  1. Provides that a notarial certificate for a remote online notarization is sufficient if it is substantially in the form provided by AS 09.63.030(b) and conforms with AS 44.50.075(c).
Analysis

The Alaska Lieutenant Governor’s office, which is the commissioning official for Alaska Notaries Public, has adopted permanent rules to implement House Bill 124, a remote online notarization bill. The rules are consistent with what we have seen in the other states that have enacted remote online notarization. The identity proofing and communication technology standards are substantially similar. While it will cost a Notary $100 to register to perform remote online notarizations, the amount will be $25 for each remaining year of their commission.

Read the adopted administrative rules.

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