There was a time when a New York State notary public could accept whatever they wanted to accept in order to prove a signer’s identity?
This is no longer the case for New York notaries public.
The new standards now have just five ways for a notary to establish a signer’s identity for an in-person notarization:
  1. Front and back of a government-issued ID that is current & valid and has the signer’s signature and photograph.
  2. At least two current documents issued by an institution, business entity, or federal or state government with at least the individual’s signature.
  3. Personal knowledge by the notary.
  4. The oath or affirmation of a witness personally known to both the individual and notary.
  5. The oath or affirmation of two witnesses who know the individual personally and provide identification that meets the requirements of #1.

For electronic notarizations, a third party, typically the NYS DOS-approved vendor, will verify each signer’s identity using credential analysis and/or identity proofing. Credential analysis is a process where a third-party service validates a government-issued identification presented by an individual through a review of public and proprietary data sources. Identity proofing is a process or service through which a third party confirms the identity of a signer through review of personal information from public and proprietary data sources.

The bottom line: Credential analysis validates the authenticity of the principal’s government-issued identification, and identity proofing validates the identity of the individual principal.