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Vermont, in the United States, is about to implement a continuing education requirement for notaries public. A one-hour course, which could be pre-recorded video, would satisfy this, and any topic related to notarization would be OK. I am interested in taking education in digital signatures to satisfy the requirement.

Ideally, the education would be free, online, and offer a completion certificate that states the amount of time needed to complete the education. Is anyone aware of education that fits this description?

Edit in response to question by fgrieu:

The exact continuing education requirements are still being formulated (even though the education must be completed by 31 January 2023). I received an email from a Vermont deputy secretary of state indicating that the requirement will be flexible, and virtually anything related to notarial practice will be acceptable.

Vermont has passed, with slight modifications, the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts including 2021 revisions. That has the definition

(3) “Electronic signature” means an electronic symbol, sound, or process attached to or logically associated with a record and executed or adopted by an individual with the intent to sign the record.

The grant of authority to perform electronic notarial acts is accompanied by a requirement that tamper-evident technology be used:

(a) A notary public may select one or more tamper-evident technologies to perform notarial acts with respect to electronic records.

Of course there is a requirement that notarial acts be associated with a notarial certificate, and that the notarial certificate be signed by the notary. See the text near

Subsection (a)(2) – The certificate must be signed and dated by the notarial officer.

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  • $\begingroup$ The question would be more likely to be answered if it linked to official applicable requirements. Is it even sure that "Digital Signature" here has the sense it has in cryptography? I think some US laws governing practices of notaries use the term to cover affixing the digital image of a handwritten signature to an electronic record, which is not the standard meaning of digital signature. Also, it seems a course for practitioners must cover digital certificates (which both use and enable digital signature), and some elements of IT security (a field where there are few things certain). $\endgroup$
    – fgrieu Mod
    Jul 24, 2022 at 20:43
  • $\begingroup$ The extra info lets me believe the question is not (at least, only) about "digital signature" as the term is understood in cryptography, but rather about something else called “electronic signature” that has no academically recognized definition in the field of cryptography (and which stated definition is comically vague). It's more IT security. The question could be for security-SE, or their meta, I guess. First check what's on-topic there. $\endgroup$
    – fgrieu Mod
    Jul 25, 2022 at 9:45
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    $\begingroup$ The US ESIGN law forces states to be technology neutral, so they're not supposed to be too specific in notary laws about what qualifies as an electronic signature. But in practice, US notaries always use asymmetric cryptographic digital signatures. Some states force them to also use an image that looks like a handwritten signature. The definitions are intended to be vague, so that innovations in cryptography and computer security can be accommodated without the state legislature having to change anything. $\endgroup$
    – Gerard Ashton
    Jul 25, 2022 at 10:26

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