In 2007 the Legislature initiated electronic notarization in Florida by enacting Chapter 2007-257, Laws of Florida. This was codified as Section 117.021, Florida Statutes. Subsection (5) of this Section authorizes the Department of State to adopt rules to insure security, reliability, and uniformity of signatures and seals to be utilized in the electronic notarization process. This rule establishes the manner in which a signature and a seal must be electronically affixed and the assurance level of security needed to insure reliability and uniformity. The law and the rule do not assign any regulatory responsibilities on the Department. The rule establishes a mechanism by which a duly commissioned notary public is enabled to notarize documents electronically in a secure, reliable, and uniform manner.