Standard for Verifying Identity Using Digital Checks
It has become acceptable practice to check the identity of a client or appearer using digital checks.
The Faculty Office has now published guidance on what a notary should do to satisfy themselves of identity when using digital checks.
The guidance contains the technical requirements that most industry standard third party digital identity checking tools will already comply with. There is no obligation for notaries to use digital checks on identity.
Meeting a client in person and inspecting hard copy documents remain an acceptable practice, but notaries should be careful not to slip into trusting digital copies of documents which have no security features.
A scanned copy of a passport, for example, is not a secure way of verifying identity as the document could easily have been forged. Using the biometric and machine readable parts of a passport on the other hand amount to a high level of security, if not absolute.