Digital oversight – authorization for a provider and outsourcing service
Applicable rules
Notaries who wish to keep their records (minutes, repertory, index), files, in trust accounting documents, application software, office management software, databases and accounting software, and data backups outside of their professional domicile must receive authorization from the Secretary of the Order.
Consequently, any service provider that offers technological documentation outsourcing services to notaries must be authorized by the Order.
Technological documentation outsourcing services include any service offered to a notary that allows the notary to transfer or entrust, by any means, in whole or in part, their physical or electronic documents and information resources. Such documents and resources are therefore no longer exclusively located at the notary’s professional domicile.
This is the case of cloud services, including remote saving and hosting and software-as-a-service such as Microsoft Office 365.
Procedure for the service provider
Authorization allowing a service provider to offer technological documentation outsourcing services to notaries will be granted if the service provider, at its own expense, successfully completes the Order’s verification process, by:
- Complying with the requirements of the Security Directive – Providers of Data Outsourcing Services for Notaries [French only]
- Providing the proof, information and documents required for this purpose
- Signing a contract with the Order
- Having every notary client sign a service agreement that includes the stipulated clauses.
To obtain this authorization, a service provider must first:
- Complete the form Description de la fourniture de service d’externalisation aux notaires [French only]
- Email this form to encadrement-fournisseur@cnq.org
The Chambre des notaire will then contact the service provider to commence the verification process.