Safety and Security Overview of Online Notarization with Proof
Proof's online notarization platform ensures exceptional security and verifiability by employing rigorously vetted and trained notaries who digitally sign documents with tamper-evident x.509 certificates from trusted authorities, creating immutable digital hashes, while storing notarization records and session videos in a secure, password-protected verification portal accessible to authorized parties.
The short answer: Electronic notarizations completed through the Proof platform offer unprecedented security and verifiability — every document is digitally signed, tamper-evident, and backed by a video record of the session.
Proof's on-demand network of notaries are fully reviewed by the Network Community Operations team before being provisioned to work on the Proof platform, starting with an eligibility check in accordance with notarial state laws. All notaries undergo extensive platform training and pass a notarial knowledge and platform assessment before becoming active on the Proof platform.
Proof ensures the integrity of all documents in two key ways:
Notarized documents are digitally signed
All documents notarized on the platform are digitally signed by the notary using a special x.509 digital certificate issued to the notary (after a rigorous identity security process) by Proof, IdenTrust, or DigiCert — all trusted Root Certificate Authorities.
Tamper-proof seal
Once the notary's digital certificate is applied to a document, it creates a digital "hash" — a hidden record of all the bits and bytes comprising the document. If any document component is later changed, no matter how small, markings are added to indicate that the document has been changed (or "tampered with") after the digital signature was applied. This preserves the original document exactly as it was signed and notarized.
This digital signature information is viewable in the "signature pane" when viewing a PDF in Adobe Acrobat.
Digital records of notarizations are in the verification portal
A digital record of every notarization is stored in a password-enabled verification portal where the customer and any authorized recipient (or others authorized by law) can access a digital copy of the original notarized document, along with key transactional information about the notarization itself.
The video of the notarization session, showing both the notary and the signer as their document is notarized, is also stored to deter fraud and provide a secure record of the entire transaction.
What about the seal?
The service applies a digital seal and certificate to the document. When printed, the digital seal will look like a standard notarization, but the digital file is enhanced with security measures to ensure the document cannot be tampered with after the notarization.
Fraud and theft prevention
Notarize Network notaries must pass an annual background check performed by the National Notary Association (NNA). Notarize Network notaries do not have access to your photo identification or your documents after the notarization is complete.
Summary Checklist
- All documents are digitally signed with an x.509 certificate — any post-signing changes are automatically flagged.
- Every notarization can be verified by going to the verification portal.
- Notarize Network notaries pass annual NNA background checks and cannot access your ID or documents after completion.
Still unsure? Contact Proof Support for help.
Related
Why RON is Critical to Stopping Deed Fraud
The article explains that rising deed fraud in the U.S. threatens homeowners' valuable assets, and highlights how remote online notarization (RON) combats this by employing rigorous multi-step digital identity verification—including knowledge-based authentication, extensive credential analysis with over 25 checks, and manual notary review—thereby creating a more trustworthy record than traditional in-person notarizations and helping to prevent fraudulent property transfers.
Supplemental Terms
The Supplemental Terms document, last modified on June 19, 2026, outlines additional user-, service-, and use case-specific terms applicable to various categories such as Business entities, Notary Users, Subscribers, and specific services like In-House Notary and Real Estate, while also defining incident priority levels ranging from critical to minimal business impact based on the severity of service functionality disruption.
Digital Certificates Now Available
In March 2026, Proof introduced exclusive, rigorously audited digital certificates for notaries that meet WebTrust standards and are listed on Adobe's Authorized Trust List, providing a secure digital identity that digitally signs and stamps notarized documents with a visible green checkmark in Adobe Acrobat, preventing seal replication, enhancing trust, and ensuring remote online notarizations are more secure and traceable than traditional paper-based methods.
Notarize: Remote Online Notarization by Proof
Notarize by Proof offers a secure, 24/7 remote online notarization platform accepted in all 50 states, enabling individuals and businesses to notarize documents instantly without appointments, featuring compliant identity verification, optional witnesses, custom branding, and the ability to use either your own or Proof’s extensive notary network to ensure seamless, fraud-protected notarizations anytime.
The Green Checkmark That Changed Everything
Proof has developed Proof Digital Certificates, a cryptographically secured notary credential system that, as the first platform on Adobe's Approved Trust List, enables online notarized documents to display a green checkmark verifying authenticity, ensures tamper-evidence through digital seals, and protects notary certificates with enterprise-grade hardware security modules to maintain trust and prevent fraud in digital notarizations.
Establish Trust with a Root Certificate in Adobe – Proof Help Center
To resolve Adobe warnings or missing green checkmarks on Proof-notarized documents caused by untrusted root certificates, users must manually install the Proof or IdenTrust root certificate file (proof-root-ca-r1.crt) into Adobe Reader or Acrobat to establish a trust relationship, enabling Adobe to verify the digital certificate and display the green checkmark for valid notarizations.