Handling Sensitive Personal and Private Documents
Today, I received a call from “Jane” at the Stanford Hospital in Stanford, California. She and her sister, “Jill” are trustees who are responsible to sign the closing documents for the sale of their parents house. Jill, who is in Oregon, has the documents and planned to email them to me, so I could print them and meet with Jane at Stanford Hospital to execute and notarize them. Escrow needed the documents tomorrow morning to close escrow on time.
One of Jill’s concerns was me handling such sensitive personal documents. I reassured her that I handle seller signings; residential purchases and home refinance loan document packages and estate planning documents, as well as many other types of private documents for businesses (such as patent applications and patent assignments) and individuals (such as estate planning documents). I have completed over several thousand notarizations and before being a notary public, I worked in the residential real estate industry for several years where I managed escrow files and disclosure packets.
Additional information for the credibility of California Notary Public’s is we are required every four years to pass an exam, pass a background check by the FBI and the Department of Justice of California. Also, our photos and all ten fingerprints are submitted to the California Secretary of State. I have additional Gramm-Leach Bliley Act training which involves handling and safeguarding nonpublic personal information electronically and in print. My laptop and external hard drive are password protected. My active journal is in my briefcase which is locked and secured in my car when I am on the road and not in a notary appointment. My inactive journals are locked in a secure filing cabinet. I have a firewall, anti-spyware and antivirus software on my laptop which is updated frequently. If I have extra copies of personal documents, such as when documents are redrawn and the first set are no longer needed, I shred them.
I hope this helps you better understand how I handle and protect nonpublic personal and private information with complete confidentiality.
When you have your important documents notarized do you know what happens with your personal private information that is entered in the notary journal? If you had a mortgage loan signing and the notary brought the documents which included your personal financial information, do you know how it is handled?
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Call Me At: (650) 290-3550 or (408) 355-3700
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Tags: Confidentiality, mobile notary, security
Cathy
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Brittney: I am glad you appreciate the article. Thank you for your feedback.