February 1st of this year, New York brought RON into the mix. And a ton of questions with it! The biggest one – Does NY Allow Biometrics? Short answer: Yes! Effective January 25, 2023, NY amended Title 19 of the NYCRR by adopting Additional Sections 182.2 – 182.11. This rule details all the regulations of online notarization, including the standards for identification verification.
What are biometrics?
Biometrics, put simply, is a form of security using biological identifiers specific to you. So what are we really talking about here? Biometrics can include fingerprints or facial recognition software.
Does NY Allow Biometrics?
New York uses the Digital Identity Guidelines of the National Institute of Standards and Technology to set the standard for how online notarization identification is going to work. The NIST lists 3 main forms of identification:
1. Something you know (e.g., a password).
2. Something you have (e.g., an ID badge or a cryptographic key).
3. Something you are (e.g., a fingerprint or other biometric data).
New York requires multi-factor authentication (MFA). MFA is exactly what it sounds like – using more than one of the above to confirm your identity.