Digital Notaries.

• Author: Throneburg, Bill
• Position: Arcanvs' CryptoNotaries - Brief Article

Signed, sealed and delivered.

A local Utah company has developed a new technology with which it hopes to allay people's concerns about the safety and security of digital signatures.

Over the past three years, ARCAMVS[R] has developed and patented electronic processes and software tools they claim will bring digital signatures securely to the masses. The company's CryptoNotary[R] technology, which enables notaries to verify individuals' identities for digital signatures, was launched in July at the National Notary Association's annual conference in Las Vegas.

As trusted authorities for binding documents, notaries may become even more important as they bridge the gap between the physical world and the virtual world. Especially relevant is the fact that the new federal legislation for "E-Sign" specifically provides for use of notarized digital signatures.

ARGANVS, which is the Roman spelling of the Latin world Arcanum, meaning sacred, secret or trustworthy, issues digital certificates and software tools to notaries who then become known as CryptoNotaries. Applications are available online via www.arcanvs.com. With a digital certificate and software tools in hand, CryptoNotaries can issue digital certificates to other individuals, which enable them to digitally sign Internet transactions and access secure, sensitive information online.

In comparison, other certificate authorities verify identity and issue digital certificates by verifying the accuracy of personal information submitted online. The certificate authority compares the information against multiple databases (e.g. credit reporting agencies) and, provided the information is accurate, will issue a certificate to that individual. ARCANVS asserts that this method is...