Notary and blockchain — the perfect combination?
TechnologyBit News Today1 min read
At its foundation, blockchain is a technology designed to provide trust, with Bitcoin serving as one example of a public blockchain. At its core, blockchain provides an unalterable, distributed ledger of transactions, making it ideal for notarization and record management. In many jurisdictions, including the United States, notaries public are appointed public officials who certify legal documents and administer oaths and affirmations.
"We need to be 100% sure that once we certify a file nobody can tamper with it," notes one proponent of blockchain in notarization. A ledger that is available 24/7 and backed by thousands of computers/servers around the world addresses this need.
Technical Underpinnings and Digital Identity
The process of applying blockchain to notarization leverages techniques like document hashing and smart contracts. Rather than uploading entire certified documents to the blockchain, a hashed copy is recorded instead. This hash value is recorded onto the blockchain, while transaction IDs and identification records are kept in the database. This allows for quick verification without the need for full document storage.
Smart contracts, programmed using languages like Solidity on the Ethereum platform, automate many aspects of this process. The network provides hash verification, timestamped storage for deeds and documents, private key access, and open transactions for verification. Digital identity verification, a critical aspect, can utilize Know Your Customer (KYC) protocols and blockchain-based identity initiatives like ERC 725 and ERC 735. Advanced techniques such as facial recognition can also be incorporated for enhanced verification.
Employing Ethereum as an application backend requires writing and publishing a smart contract. It is also noted that from an engineering perspective, federated blockchains, designed for private or consortium use, are not that different from a well-structured centralized SQL database cluster.
Bringing notaries and blockchain networks together will require a cooperative commitment at the governmental level. New market entrants could offer customer relationship management platforms linked to private blockchains to manage notary clients and improve communication with other stakeholders.
