DUTY OF CONFIDENTIALITY
One of the most fundamental and paramount of a notary public’s duties is their legal obligation to
safeguard the confidentiality of client data recorded in their notary journal. Other than when a notary journal is in use, many states require notaries to keep their journal locked in a secured area under the notary's direct and exclusive control (which means that a locked desk drawer accessible by your employer is not acceptable). Moreover, because a journal is the exclusive property of the notary public, many states prohibit a notary from providing access to their journal to anyone other than a police officer or a county clerk.
The American Association of Notaries (AAoN) provides further direction on data confidentiality when actually using your notary journal. The AAoN directs notaries to “cover any previous journal entries” when meeting with clients. That means that all prior journal entries must be concealed from the current client, credible witnesses, and anyone else present during each notarization.
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Fines, criminal charges, and suspension or even revocation of a notary’s commission are among the disciplinary sanctions that many states impose for failure to follow applicable notarial laws. Because some states have enacted umbrella legislation (e.g. “failure to discharge fully and faithfully any of the duties or responsibilities required of a notary public” Cal. Gov. Code § 8214.1(d)), the violation of which is subject to discipline, preserving client data confidentiality is a serious matter for all notaries.
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Easily Conceal Prior Client Data with a GUARDIAN NOTARY JOURNAL
Fortunately, all 24 of my GUARDIAN NOTARY JOURNALS make it easy to conceal prior client data from current and future clients.
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â–¶ Both NOTARY JOURNAL FOR SIGNING AGENTS afford built-in privacy. The 140-entry has a dual-page entry (no prior entries are visible) and the 250-entry has a single-page entry (easily covered).
â–¶ Each of my other 22 GUARDIAN NOTARY JOURNALS was designed in landscape orientation (they open upward like a wall calendar) with two journal entries per page that are easily concealed. This innovative format provides several advantages:
- the half-page (2-per-page) entry is well-proportioned but compact (buy/store fewer journals)
- the 11-inch wide landscape pages afford more room to write (long document names & notes)
​ - my bi-fold Data Shield (sold separately) conceals prior entries by simply orienting it differently.
To learn more or order a bi-fold Data Shield, email me at NotaryRecords@gmail.com.
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Alternatively, if lawful in your state, consider coil spiral-binding* any of my 21 paperback journals
(2 landscape entries per page) at Staples, FedEx, Copymat etc. . . . so journal then folds back under itself and lays completely flat (yet another bonus), so you need only cover the top entry (with a half sheet of paper) when filling the bottom entry.
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* Although California typically has the most strict notary laws in the U.S., as of July 2023, the Secretary of State
affirmed that spiral-bound journals do not violate any California notary laws and are approved for use in CA
(as long as they otherwise comply with California notary laws for journal entries and notary record books).