You may be interested in signing or encrypting email. You can do this using an X.509 certificate issued by a Certificate Authority (CA). Outlook, Apple Mail, Mozilla and other mailers support X.509 certificates.

With no significant effort, you can obtain free certificates from Thawte here. The only "identity" initially associated with those certificates is your email address, not your name. If you would like to associate your name with a Thawte email certificate, and thus confer more legal authority to email sent with it, you must have your Thawte identity notarized.

As a Thawte Web Of Trust Notary, I can issue 35 points towards your identity assertion. My domestic partner Ron Lussier (see here) can issue another 10 points. You need a total of 50 points to associate your name with your certificate.

If you've already scheduled an identity assertion, please bring the following items with you:

1. Two forms of ID with the following properties:
   • One must be the ID you used to establish your Thawte identity,
   • At least one must be a picture ID, and
   • At least one must be government-issued.
2. Two photocopies of both IDs , front and back.

Appointment required

Please email me at dan@greening.name to schedule an appointment. This will allow us to set up a time when my partner and I are both available. 45 points in one stop!

I will not notarize drop-ins.

Note on Social Security numbers

I will not accept Social Security cards (or any ID containing a social security number as an identifier). Do you really want to trust a stranger with this information? (If the answer is yes, why are you interested in securing your email when you're willing to compromise your identity in the process?)

Location

I live in Sausalito with Ron. We're located at 67 Crescent Ave, Sausalito CA 94965. Click here for a map.

Any questions, please feel free to write.