Remote online notary user agreement

1. RELATIONSHIP TO MASTER TERMS

This Remote Online Notary User Agreement ("Agreement") is incorporated into and subject to the Terms and Conditions of Use (the "Master Terms"), available at https://www.notaryberry.com/legal/terms. Capitalized terms used but not defined in this Agreement shall have the meanings set forth in the Master Terms. In the event of a conflict between this Agreement and the Master Terms regarding the specific mechanics of electronic notarization, this Agreement shall control.

2. DIGITAL CERTIFICATE OWNERSHIP AND SECURITY

To perform Electronic Notarial Acts on the Platform, You must possess a valid X.509 Digital Certificate (or equivalent as required by your commissioning state).

2.1. User Ownership: You acknowledge that the Digital Certificate and the associated private key used to apply your digital signature and seal are your personal professional property. You acknowledge that 901ers, Inc. does not own, hold, or have access to your private signing key. You retain sole ownership and exclusive control of your Digital Certificate at all times.

2.2. Procurement & Validity: You are solely responsible for procuring a compliant Digital Certificate from a third-party Certificate Authority (CA) authorized by your commissioning state. You warrant that your Digital Certificate is current, unexpired, and unrevoked during any use of the Platform.

2.3. Compromise Protocol: You agree to maintain exclusive control over the password, token, or hardware device containing your digital seal and signature. If you suspect your Digital Certificate has been lost, stolen, or compromised, You must:

• Immediately revoke the certificate with the issuing CA;
• Notify 901ers, Inc. immediately;
• Notify your state commissioning authority (e.g., Secretary of the Commonwealth) as required by law; and
• Notify appropriate law-enforcement agencies in cases of suspected theft or vandalism.

3. JOURNAL RESPONSIBILITY AND RECORD RETENTION

In accordance with Section 21 (Recording) of the Master Terms, 901ers, Inc. provides storage of recordings of your notary sessions and other associated information in the cloud. However, compliance with state record-keeping laws remains your sole burden.

3.1. Custodian of Records: You agree that you are the custodian for your Electronic Journal and Audio-Video recordings. 901ers, Inc. and its affiliates act solely as a data processor and storage provider.

3.2. Duty to Record: You are responsible for ensuring that every notarial act performed on the Platform is recorded in the E-Journal in strict compliance with the laws of your commissioning jurisdiction (including, type of notarial act and document, recording signer identity, fee charged, and session duration, among others). 901ers, Inc. does not verify the legal sufficiency of your journal entries.

3.3. Data Backup and Export: While 901ers, Inc. utilizes industry-standard backup protocols, You agree to maintain your own backup of your E-Journal and Audio-Video recordings on your own local storage or a separate secure medium. Consistent with Section 12 (Limitation of Remedies) of the Master Terms, 901ers, Inc. shall not be liable for data loss resulting from technical failure or force majeure, among others.

4. USE RESTRICTIONS AND COMPLIANCE

Your license to use the Platform, granted in Section 6 of the Master Terms, is further restricted as follows:

4.1. Physical Location: You represent and warrant that You will only initiate Remote Online Notarizations while you are physically located within the geographic boundaries of your commissioning jurisdiction (e.g., the Commonwealth of Virginia), regardless of the physical location of the signer, unless you are also authorized to perform a notarial act outside the commissioning jurisdiction pursuant to Virginia Code ("VA Code") § 47.1-13.1., or similar laws or statutes of your commissioning jurisdiction.

4.2. Prohibition on Proxy Use: Your account credentials are for your personal use only. You may not share account access with any other person. Allowing a secretary, spouse, or assistant to access your account or apply your seal constitutes a material breach of this Agreement.

4.3. Prohibited Acts: You are strictly prohibited from using the Platform to:

• Notarize your or your spouse's own signature;
• Perform notarizations where the signer is not present via the required audio-video technology;
• Notarize documents in which you have a direct financial or beneficial interest.

4.4. Verification: You agree that 901ers, Inc. has the right, but not the obligation, to monitor usage patterns to detect fraudulent activity. We reserve the right to suspend access immediately if improper notarization or illegal credential sharing is suspected.

5. STANDARDS OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT

You agree to adhere to the standards of conduct outlined in the Virginia Handbook for Notaries and the VA Code Title 47.1. Specifically regarding Platform usage:

5.1. Identity Verification: You bear the sole burden of determining "Satisfactory Evidence of Identity," as defined in VA Code 47.1-2. You agree to utilize the Platform's identity proofing tools (Credential Analysis and Knowledge-Based Authentication) only as an aid to your professional judgment. If You are not satisfied with a signer's identity or capacity for any reason, You must refuse the notarization.

5.2. Video Integrity: You must ensure the audio-video feed is live, real-time, and clear. You must terminate the session if technical issues prevent you from clearly seeing or hearing the signer or the act of signing.

5.3. Conflict of Interest: You shall not use the Platform to perform any notarial act in which You or your spouse have a direct beneficial interest, or where You are a party to the instrument.

6. DATA PROCESSING AGREEMENT (DPA)

6.1. Scope of Section 6. To the extent 901ers, Inc. processes personal data on behalf of the User ("Controller"), 901ers Inc. acts as the processor ("Processor"). This Section governs the Processor's data processing procedures performed on behalf of the Controller. The parties agree to the following processing details:

6.1.1. Processing Instructions: The Controller hereby instructs the Processor to process personal data only as reasonably necessary to provide the Platform services, to facilitate the performance of electronic notarial acts, and to maintain associated record-keeping, or as otherwise explicitly directed by the Controller.

6.1.2. Nature and Purpose of Processing: The Processor shall process data by collecting, storing, organizing and retrieving them for Remote Online Notarization purposes and to ensure compliance with associated laws.

6.1.3. Type of Data Subject to Processing: The data includes, but not limited to, signer identity data (e.g. names, addresses, credential details) and audio-video recordings of notarial sessions.

6.1.4. Duration of Processing: The data will be processed for the period during which the Processor provides services to the Controller, in addition to any statutory retention period required by law.

6.1.5. Rights and Obligations: The rights and obligations of both parties are established in this Section 6, the broader terms of this Agreement, and the Master Terms.

6.2. Confidentiality: The Processor will make a commercially reasonable effort to make each person processing personal data (including employees, contractors, and agents) subject to strict contractual or statutory duty of confidentiality with respect to the data.

6.3. Return or Deletion of Data: At the Controller's direction, the Processor shall delete or return all personal data within the scope of Section 6 to the Controller as requested at the end of the provision of services. Notwithstanding the foregoing, NotaryBerry policy requires notarial records, including complete and uninterrupted audio-video recordings of online notarizations, to be securely retained for at least ten (10) years after the recording is made. Applicable law may require a longer retention period.

6.4. Compliance Information: Upon the reasonable request of the Controller, Processor shall make available all information in its possession necessary at no additional charge to demonstrate compliance with the obligations of the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act, as required by VA Code § 59.1-579(B)(3), provided such requests can be fulfilled using the existing tools of the Platform service. The Processor shall be entitled to reimbursement for all time and materials spent assisting the Controller with extraordinary data requests that includes but not limited to manual data recovery or bulk export of data files.

6.5. Assessments and Audits: Upon reasonable request by the Controller, the Processor shall arrange for a qualified and independent assessor to conduct an assessment of the Processor's policies, along with the technical and organizational measures, under an appropriate and accepted standard. The Controller shall be responsible for the costs of such audit and or inspection. The Processor shall provide a report of such assessment to the Controller upon reasonable request, in lieu of direct audits of the Processor's policies and measures by the Controller or the Controller's designated assessor.

6.6. Subcontractors: You authorize and agree that the Processor may engage subcontractors to process personal data as it may be required for credential analysis, knowledge based authentications, identity proofing or others as it may be necessary for the performance of electronic notarial acts and associated record-keeping. Processor agrees to engage such subcontractors, pursuant to a written contract, to meet the same obligations of confidentiality and security as set forth in this Section 6.

7. FEES FOR REMOTE ONLINE NOTARIZATION

7.1 Statutory Notarial Fees: In accordance with Va. Code § 47.1-19, the fee for each electronic notarial act (per seal/session) shall not exceed $25.00. This fee is specifically for the legal act of notarization.

7.2 Administrative and Technology Fees: You acknowledge that the total cost of a notarial session includes additional non-notarial charges ("Platform Fees") set at $10 to $15. These fees cover the costs of third-party identity proofing (Knowledge-Based Authentication), credential analysis, secure encrypted audio-video communication, and the electronic journal and the record, and other associated costs.

7.3 Custom Rates and Disclosure: Platform Fees may be set at a custom rate based on the volume of sessions, documents, your time of use, or other specialized platform requirements. All fees shall be disclosed to and agreed upon by you prior to the commencement of the session.

7.4 Fee Adjustments: We reserve the right to change our Platform Fee schedule at any time. Any such changes will apply to sessions booked after the date of the change.

7.5 Non-Refundability: Because certain costs including third-party costs for identity verification and credential analysis are incurred immediately upon initiation, these portions of the Platform Fee, currently set at $5.00, are non-refundable, once the verification process has begun, regardless of whether a notarization session is completed.

8. INDEMNIFICATION FOR NOTARIAL MISCONDUCT

Supplementing Section 9 of the Master Terms, You agree to indemnify and hold harmless 901ers, Inc. from any claims, penalties, or damages arising specifically from, but not limited to:

• Your failure to verify the identity of a signer properly;
• Errors or omissions in your notarial certificate or journal;
• Your failure to maintain your Digital Certificate in a secure manner; or
• Any violation by You of the Standards of Conduct as referenced in Section 5.