We are going to present a series of ideas, which surely are open to criticism, but which are the result of hours of conversations with people who are dedicated to the digital-legal field, and of the investigation of what Private companies and notaries are developing on the internet.
Creation of electronic services.
Most of the issues that I am going to discuss stem from the need to collectively provide ourselves with two fundamental tools, at least to begin with: a secure file server and a time stamping tool for electronic files.
The first thing we need is to provide ourselves with a notarized hosting, or what is the same: a secure server to which the Notary can upload and deposit files. With this, we could access the management of digital files on a uniform and secure notarial server, which allows us, for example, to safely store the electronic documentation of a client in his folder (the authorized electronic copies of his articles of incorporation or appointment of the administrator) or deposit electronic files of all kinds.
The second of the bases is the time stamping, which serves to ensure the existence of any electronic file at a time and ensure that an electronic file has not been altered. The possibilities of its use pass to prove the existence of electronic communications (SMS, email, WhatsApp), the content of the general contracting conditions of any website or the publications of corporate websites.
Electronic records of the presence
Where the usefulness of these concepts is well appreciated is in the minutes of photographs, which would be taken directly and exclusively by the Notary, would be sealed in time with their electronic signature, and would be uploaded to the secure notary server. It would not work for those made by the client with his device, because all the data and parameters of the photograph can be falsified. Advantages? Many:
- If the client is allowed access with a secure password to a virtual space, it, regardless of whether it has the physical copy, has all the photographs at its disposal from any device to view them, increase the zoom, etc.
- In the same sense, video or audio files could be taken and incorporated. Perhaps it was interesting in Partner Boards or in the documentation of technical processes.
- The photo is enriched with more intrinsic information, since current cameras store metadata in the photo file that allows obtaining information, for example, about the model of the camera that took the photo, the exact date and time (think that there are acts that can last several hours, in which it would be very convenient to have the specific time of each photograph) or the exact place where it was taken (for notaries who carry out their function in rural areas, it is very interesting to locate exactly a photograph in a large area farm).
Imaginative solutions using GPS data already exist on the market. The problem is that there are other applications that allow the smartphone to be tricked and change the GPS data, so the validity of the certificate when the subject presents the photographs is doubtful, despite the fact that the companies that market these applications constantly they try to improve their security. Now, what if the Notary public in Oklahoma could do it under his faith and responsibility, and knowing that the GPS data has not been altered?
Notarial acts of social networks and the internet.
Any electronic communication, web page or public social network should be capable of being notarized quickly, economically, securely and understandably. Certainly, if the social network or the web is private, the notarial acts find an important stumbling block, which is precisely the clash with the data protection regulations, an issue that goes beyond the scope of this exposition.
