The Data Notary Concept: a Trustworthy Operator of the Electronic Safe

A system of trust needs to be established so that the private sector can provide users or their clients with safes that they will feel comfortable using. It remains to be seen just how far organisational structures that prevent unauthorised internal and external access to the electronic safe can be developed in addition to some necessary technical precautions.  The main focus of this project will be the establishment of a legal-organisational basis as well as the development of a specially designed architectural IT framework. This project is being funded by German ISPRAT-Institute. Together the Fraunhofer-Institute FOKUS and the Lorenz-von-Stein-Institute at the Christian-Albrechts-University in Kiel will develop the new concept of the data notary. There are a range of suitable design options available for the new data notary concept, which has been modelled on the proven version of the notary.

The Data Notary’s Tasks

• The principle function of data notaries is to guarantee the trustworthy and secure storage of digital data and documents.

• Data notaries implement (legally) defined minimum standards for the protection of important data and documents.

• Data notaries subject their own life cycles and their relationships with their clients to unambiguous rules.

• Data notaries are subject to certain obligations and enjoy the same special security clearance as notaries entrusted with confidential information.

• A data notary’s role could be taken over by certified IT service providers or by approved notaries.

The Notary’s Tasks

• Notaries are subject to the Bundesnotarordnung ’s or BNotO’s (federal notary order) regulations.

• Notaries are independent and impartial (BNotO §14.1). They are not allowed to refuse to do their job without sufficient reason (§15.1).

• The notary is sworn to secrecy and obliged to have professional indemnity insurance

• Notaries are responsible for all types of certification (§20). Alongside other activities, notaries are responsible for safekeeping “money, securities and valuables” (§23).

• If the official position is terminated, Bundesnotarordnung regulations (§47ff.) will determine how to proceed.

• In the information age, notaries could also take on a data notary’s tasks (the safekeeping of digital documents).

• Notaries are fundamentally responsible for the certification of physical and digital documents in the information age.