Prevent insertion between recorded entries, removal, and substitution.

§ 167.34(a)(1)

Evidence identified: Integrity checks detect changes to sealed journal records and retain evidence when a journal is deleted. The protected audit history rejects edits and deletions. Authorized amendments remain recorded as new versions.

• Passed — Changed entry content is detected
• Passed — Middle and tail chain deletion are detected
• Passed — Deleted journal leaves detectable chain evidence
• Passed — Protected audit history rejects changes and deletions
• Passed — Simultaneous finalizations preserve audit-history order

Number entries consecutively throughout the journal.

§ 167.34(a)(2)

Evidence identified: Tests assign the next journal entry number, preserve an existing number, and retain an authorized version when a finalized record is voided. Audit-history ordering is tested separately from journal entry numbering.

• Passed — Assign next journal sequence when missing
• Passed — Preserve an existing journal sequence
• Passed — Voiding a finalized entry creates an authorized version

Securely store the journal and recover it after hardware or software failure.

§ 167.34(a)(3)

Evidence identified: Offline draft tests report a failure when storage is unavailable and remove full PA credential numbers before saving drafts. Access tests prevent ordinary users from performing restricted integrity maintenance.

• Passed — Unavailable draft storage produces a clear failure
• Passed — Ordinary users cannot perform restricted integrity maintenance

Provide PDF on request; surrender in PDF or another readable format prescribed by the receiving recorder.

§ 167.34(a)(4), (b)

Evidence identified: The export test uses a signed PA sample with an acknowledgment, a $5.00 fee, act date/time, document description, signer name/address, credential type, issue and expiration dates, issuing state and identity method. It downloads the PDF and checks the text visible on its rendered pages. The credential is supplied in terminal-four form, and only 4821 is printed. The test also verifies the spreadsheet export. The completed PDF and screenshot are available below.

• Passed — Downloaded PA PDF contains act, fee, signer details, credential dates and terminal-four number

When a signature is included, associate it with the entry and make subsequent entry alterations detectable.

§ 167.34(a)(5)

Evidence identified: The PDF now displays the included signature image. Before export, the app checks that the image matches the fingerprint committed to the journal entry and rejects a changed image. The downloaded-PDF test verifies visible blue signature ink and confirms that a signature reference is not printed in its place. Separate integrity tests detect changes to stored signatures and their associated entry details.

• Passed — Embedded signature alteration and associated entry alteration are detected
• Passed — Downloaded PDF visibly contains the committed signature image

Record act date/time, description and act type, individual name/address, identity method and credential issue/expiry dates when applicable, and fee at performance.

57 Pa.C.S. § 319(c)

Evidence identified: PA credential-based identification requires valid issuance and expiration dates, with expiration on or after issuance. The form checks saved signers and witnesses again before continuing. Completed entries are also checked when saved or finalized remotely; incomplete drafts remain available. A journal workflow test rejects missing and reversed dates, saves corrected dates with act, fee and identity details, reopens that same entry and verifies its PDF. Personal-knowledge and credible-witness identification do not require document dates.

• Passed — Finalization requires witness addresses
• Passed — In-person electronic entry requires an identity-verification method
• Passed — Saved entry preserves the supplied date, time and time zone
• Passed — Invalid or reversed PA credential dates are rejected
• Passed — Previously saved signers and witnesses are validated again (2 test cases)
• Passed — Completed PA entries require dates; incomplete drafts remain available (2 test cases)
• Passed — Remote finalization requires PA credential dates
• Passed — Corrected dates persist through saving, reopening and PDF export

Indicate each notarial act separately and complete the applicable entry details. The electronic journal creates saved records rather than unused paper lines.

§ 167.32(b)–(c)

Evidence identified: The journal page shows five saved records containing 1, 2, 3, 1 and 2 acts. Each of the nine acts has its own labeled row, document description and act type, backed by a distinct saved act identifier. The test reloads the journal and verifies that all nine acts remain attached to the correct records. Phone and short desktop views are captured as well.

• Passed — Five saved records show all nine acts separately and retain them after reload
• Passed — Act listings preserve identifiers, ordering and custom act types; external records keep their details private

Exclude prohibited PII, including any SSN portion, full government ID numbers, birth data, and biometrics. Terminal credential numbers and signatures are permitted as specified.

§ 167.32(d)–(e)

Evidence identified: Signer and witness credential numbers retain only the terminal four characters by default. No part of a Social Security number is permitted in the journal. A journal workflow test enters a 13-digit sample credential, confirms that only 0007 is saved, then reopens the entry and confirms that only 0007 is returned and displayed. Further tests cover PA state-name variations, leading zeros, letters in credential suffixes, and offline drafts.

• Passed — PA state-name variations retain only credential suffixes (3 test cases)
• Passed — Offline drafts exclude the full PA ID number
• Passed — Saved credential numbers retain only terminal characters
• Passed — Entry saves and reopens with only 0007

Keep the journal under the notary’s exclusive custody and control, secured by password or personal authentication.

§ 167.35(a)

Evidence identified: PA journal reads exclude workspace administrators while retaining access for the owning notary. Federated custody copies are encrypted for a personal notary key; the private passphrase and recovery secret stay on the device. Registration and approval require recent personal MFA. Finalization requires the stored encrypted copy and approval for that exact version, and the signed receipt binds its digest and key. Bulk transfers reuse persisted ciphertext after interrupted responses. Personal archive retrieval does not require workspace membership or an active subscription. “View my PA journal” loads the encrypted journal directly into the configured viewer through a window- and origin-checked handoff. The passphrase is entered only in the viewer; encrypted backup download remains available. The offline viewer verifies a signed inventory and refuses missing, altered or unapproved records before preparing a complete export. The notary remains physically present during inspection.

• Passed — Another person cannot finalize the owner’s journal entry
• Passed — Shared customer history does not expose another notary journal
• Passed — Stored ciphertext and exact notary approval are required for finalization
• Passed — Wrong owners, workspaces, plaintext fields and private JWKs are rejected
• Passed — Personal custody survives workspace departure and key rotation
• Passed — Direct database clients are denied and custody rows reject destructive changes
• Passed — Key enrollment and approval require recent personal MFA
• Passed — Unapproved custody aborts finalization before receipt storage
• Passed — Private passphrase and independent recovery unlock the encrypted copy
• Passed — Tampering and owner, key or journal substitution fail decryption
• Passed — Signed inventory detects omitted entries, versions and unapproved copies
• Passed — Bulk retries preserve identical ciphertext after a lost response
• Passed — PA snapshot validation rejects prohibited data and missing credential dates
• Passed — Browser setup keeps private secrets out of API requests
• Passed — Offline inspection verifies the archive and clears the viewer when ended
• Passed — Workspace administrators cannot read PA entries; notaries retain personal access (2 test cases)
• Passed — Account handoff sends encrypted records once and waits for the viewer
• Passed — Other origins, windows and request identifiers are rejected
• Passed — Only the configured account opener can load the journal; replay is ignored
• Passed — Blocked popups, insecure viewer addresses and secret fields fail safely
• Passed — Unanswered handoffs expire and remove their listeners
• Passed — Account journal opens preselected without a file download or upload

Support inspection in the notary’s presence and certified copies of specified entries or periods within 15 days of an oral or written request.

§ 167.36 · 57 Pa.C.S. § 316(5) · 57 Pa.C.S. § 315(a), (b), (f)

Evidence identified: The tested journal export produces a printable PDF with the act, fee, signer details, credential dates and terminal-four credential number. To provide a paper certified copy, the notary prints the requested entry or entries, compares the printout with the journal, completes the certification wording, signs in ink and applies the official stamp. The example wording below follows the copy-of-record short form in 57 Pa.C.S. § 316(5). This paper workflow does not require a notary digital certificate. Accept oral or written requests for specified entries or a period and provide the paper certified copy within 15 days of receipt. Arrange inspection in the notary’s presence. The notary carries out these steps; generating a PDF alone does not certify or deliver the copy.

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
County of ______________________________

I certify that this is a true and correct copy of a ______________________________
in the possession of ______________________________.

Dated: ______________________________

Signature of notarial officer: ______________________________

[Official stamp]
Title of office: Notary Public
My commission expires: ______________________________

• Passed — Printable PA sample contains act, fee, signer details and credential dates