Public network privacy protection tool and method
First Claim
1. A secure electronic commerce protocol for use between on the one hand a seller offering to sell at least one item and on the other hand a buyer interested in accepting the offer and thereby buying at least one item offered for sale by the seller, and the protocol includes the steps of:
- using at least one electronic data-communications media;
a) on the seller'"'"'s side, publishing for a buyer an offer having therein i) a transaction reference identifier linking a price schedule to the at least one item, and ii) a seller'"'"'s deposit account address;
b) on the buyer'"'"'s side, sending to a fiduciary an acceptance-of-the-offer authorization having therein i) a funds-transfer authorization according to the price schedule, ii) the transaction reference identifier and iii) the seller'"'"'s deposit account address; and
c) on the fiduciary'"'"'s side, receiving the authorization, and completing the buyer'"'"'s acceptance-of-the-offer by sending to the seller'"'"'s deposit account address i) the funds according to the transfer authorization, and ii) the transaction reference identifier.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and tool for facilitating data and commercial transactions over a public network enable a user to maintain full control of personal data. Information, including payment information, is provided by a supplier to a user requesting provision of a service or product. In order to facilitate a transaction, the user arranges, via a bank, credit card institution or other fiduciary organization, for payment directly to the account of the supplier together with an identification of the goods or service required. Thereafter, the bank, credit card institution or other fiduciary organization arranges for payment directly to the account of the supplier and identifies the required goods or service to the supplier. The goods or service are then delivered to the user. Such transactions may be optionally performed by use of a single step on the part of the user.
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Citations
61 Claims
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1. A secure electronic commerce protocol for use between on the one hand a seller offering to sell at least one item and on the other hand a buyer interested in accepting the offer and thereby buying at least one item offered for sale by the seller, and the protocol includes the steps of:
- using at least one electronic data-communications media;
a) on the seller'"'"'s side, publishing for a buyer an offer having therein i) a transaction reference identifier linking a price schedule to the at least one item, and ii) a seller'"'"'s deposit account address;
b) on the buyer'"'"'s side, sending to a fiduciary an acceptance-of-the-offer authorization having therein i) a funds-transfer authorization according to the price schedule, ii) the transaction reference identifier and iii) the seller'"'"'s deposit account address; and
c) on the fiduciary'"'"'s side, receiving the authorization, and completing the buyer'"'"'s acceptance-of-the-offer by sending to the seller'"'"'s deposit account address i) the funds according to the transfer authorization, and ii) the transaction reference identifier. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 26, 27, 28, 29)
- using at least one electronic data-communications media;
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19. A computer program product including a computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein for a secure electronic commerce protocol, the computer readable program code in said computer program product including:
- using at least one electronic data-communications media on the seller'"'"'s side,
a) first computer readable program code for causing a computer to publish for a buyer an offer having therein a transaction reference identifier linking a price schedule to the at least one item; and
b) tied to the first computer readable software, second computer readable program code for causing the computer to publish for a buyer an offer having therein a seller'"'"'s deposit account address.
- using at least one electronic data-communications media on the seller'"'"'s side,
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20. A computer program product including a computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein for a secure electronic commerce protocol, the computer readable program code in said computer program product including:
- using at least one electronic data-communications media on the buyer'"'"'s side,
a) first computer readable program code for causing a computer to send to a fiduciary an acceptance-of-the-offer authorization having therein a finds transfer authorization according to the price schedule;
b) tied to the first computer readable software, second computer readable program code for causing the computer to send to a fiduciary an acceptance-of-the-offer authorization having therein the transaction reference identifier; and
c) tied to the second computer readable software, third computer readable program code for causing the computer to send to a fiduciary an acceptance-of-the-offer authorization having therein the seller'"'"'s deposit account address.
- using at least one electronic data-communications media on the buyer'"'"'s side,
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21. A computer program product including a computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein for a secure electronic commerce protocol, the computer readable program code in said computer program product including:
- using at least one electronic data-communications media on the fiduciary'"'"'s side,
a) first computer readable program code for causing a computer to receive the authorization and to complete the buyer'"'"'s acceptance-of-the-offer by sending to the seller'"'"'s deposit account address the funds according to the transfer authorization; and
b) tied to the first computer readable software, second computer readable program code for causing the computer to receive the authorization, and complete the buyer'"'"'s acceptance-of-the-offer by sending to the seller'"'"'s deposit account address the transaction reference identifier.
- using at least one electronic data-communications media on the fiduciary'"'"'s side,
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22. A program storage device readable by machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform method steps for a secure electronic commerce protocol, said method steps including:
- using at least one electronic data-communications media on the seller'"'"'s side, publishing for a buyer an offer having therein
a) a transaction reference identifier linking a price schedule to the at least one item; and
b) a seller'"'"'s deposit account address.
- using at least one electronic data-communications media on the seller'"'"'s side, publishing for a buyer an offer having therein
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23. A program storage device readable by machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform method steps for a secure electronic commerce protocol, said method steps including:
- using at least one electronic data-communications media, on the buyer'"'"'s side sending to a fiduciary an acceptance of an offer authorization having therein;
a) a funds transfer authorization according to the price schedule;
b) a transaction reference identifier; and
c) a seller'"'"'s deposit account address.
- using at least one electronic data-communications media, on the buyer'"'"'s side sending to a fiduciary an acceptance of an offer authorization having therein;
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24. A program storage device readable by machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform method steps for a secure electronic commerce protocol, said method steps including:
- using at least one electronic data-communications media on the fiduciary'"'"'s side, receiving the authorization, and completing the buyer'"'"'s acceptance-of-the-offer by sending to the seller'"'"'s deposit account address,
a) funds according to a transfer authorization; and
b) a transaction reference identifier; and
c) a seller'"'"'s deposit account address.
- using at least one electronic data-communications media on the fiduciary'"'"'s side, receiving the authorization, and completing the buyer'"'"'s acceptance-of-the-offer by sending to the seller'"'"'s deposit account address,
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25. An agent, embodied in software resident in a machine-readable device, for facilitating a secure transaction between a user and an entity, with which the user may seek to interact, said agent including:
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means for receiving from an Internet browser used by a user, nominal and non-nominal information associated with the user;
means for storing the information in a user file, so as to construct a user profile;
means for receiving transaction rules from a remote entity with whom the user may seek to interact;
means for determining the relevance of the transaction rules to the user profile; and
means for sending selected information associated with the user, to the remote entity, in accordance with the transaction rules received therefrom.
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30. A fiduciary system for transacting a purchase of at least one item on behalf of a buyer such that the privacy of the buyer is maintained and protected, the system comprising:
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a) a first transaction component;
b) a buying component including;
i) a data storage medium for receiving and providing data relevant to a plurality of buyers, such that the privacy of each buyer is preserved and protected, ii) an order receiving component for receiving a buying request to transact a purchase of at least one item on behalf of a buyer, in response to a buying request sent by the buyer, and iii) an ordering component to retrieve data from the data storage medium for the buyer so as to facilitate transacting the purchase of the at least one item on behalf of the buyer; and
c) a second transaction component, such that, in response to the buying request, the fiduciary initiates the transaction relating to the at least one item, whereby the fiduciary provides to the seller payment and predetermined information, including at least information selected from the group comprising;
i) shipping details;
ii) quantity of items ordered;
iii) delivery address; and
iv) packaging specification. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32)
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33. A method of conducting a transaction between a buyer, a seller, and a fiduciary, in respect of at least one item to be purchased by the buyer from the seller whereby the privacy of the buyer is preserved, and wherein a client is not installed on a computer used by the buyer for the transaction, said method includes the steps of
a) for the buyer i) recording an item identifier and a seller identifier for at least one item, ii) logging on to a secure fiduciary site, and iii) sending a purchase request to the fiduciary site to purchase the at least one item together with the item identifier and the seller identifier; - and
b) for a fiduciary system i) receiving the purchase request, ii) retrieving buyer data from a fiduciary database relating to a buyer identifier, iii) confirming the identity of the buyer, iii) opening the seller'"'"'s payment form; and
iv) authorizing the seller to fill the purchase request received from the buyer, while retaining the confidentiality of buyer specific data contained in the fiduciary database.
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34. A method of conducting a transaction between a buyer, a seller, and a fiduciary, in respect of at least one item to be purchased by the buyer from the seller by use of a single-step ordering system, whereby the privacy of the buyer is preserved, said method comprising:
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a) for a buyer system, i) recording an item identifier and a seller identifier for at least one item, and ii) sending a purchase request to a fiduciary system to purchase the at least one item together with the item identifier and the seller identifier; and
b) for a fiduciary system i) receiving the purchase request, ii) retrieving buyer data from a fiduciary database relating to a buyer identifier, and iii) authorizing the seller to fill the purchase request received from the buyer, while retaining the confidentiality of buyer specific data contained in the fiduciary database. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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41. A single step buyer protocol for buying at least one item which comprises:
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a) a buyer identifier;
b) a seller identifier;
c) a transaction identifier for identifying the at least one item to be purchased from the seller;
d) a single-step buying request issued by the buyer to a fiduciary system to transact an order of the at least one item from the seller, the request including the buyer identifier to facilitate provision of buyer data from a fiduciary database, the seller identifier and item identifiers for the at least one item, such that the fiduciary system initiates transaction of a purchase of the at least one item from the seller on behalf of the buyer; and
e) a transaction component, such that, in response to the buying request, the fiduciary initiates the transaction of the at least one item, whereby the fiduciary provides payment to the seller and predetermined information, including information selected from the group comprising;
i) shipping details, ii) quantity of items ordered, iii) delivery address, and iv) packaging specification. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44, 45)
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46. A fiduciary system for transacting a single step purchase of at least one item on behalf of a buyer such that the privacy of the buyer is maintained and protected, the system comprising:
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a) a first transaction component;
b) a single-step buying component including;
i) a data storage medium for receiving and providing data relevant to a plurality of buyers, such that the privacy of each buyer is preserved and protected, ii) an order receiving component for receiving a buying request to transact a purchase of at least one item on behalf of a buyer, in response to a single-step buying request sent by the buyer, and iii) a single-step ordering component to retrieve data from the data storage medium for the buyer so as to facilitate transacting the purchase of the at least one item on behalf of the buyer; and
c) a second transaction component such that in response to the buying request, the fiduciary initiates the transaction of the at least one item, whereby the fiduciary provides payment to the seller and delivery details in accordance with the buyer identifier. - View Dependent Claims (47, 48)
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49. A method for buying at least one item using a single-step buyer system, the method comprising:
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a) identifying the at least one item;
b) disclosing a single step indicator to be submitted so as to purchase the identified item; and
c) sending the single-step indicator to a fiduciary to buy the at least one identified item on behalf of the buyer, responsive to the single step indicator, whereby the item is bought independently of the buyer and the purchase is fulfilled while preserving and protecting the privacy of the buyer. - View Dependent Claims (50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56)
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57. A method of conducting a point of sale transaction by use of a buyer identifier device between a buyer, a seller, and a fiduciary, in respect of at least one item to be purchased by the buyer from the seller, whereby the privacy of the buyer is preserved, said method comprises:
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a) for a buyer, i) recording an item identifier and a seller identifier for at least one item, ii) applying said buyer identifier device to a reader device of the seller, thereby to identify the buyer, and iii) sending a purchase request to a fiduciary system to purchase the at least one item together with the seller identifier and the sale transaction details; and
b) for a fiduciary system i) receiving the purchase request and the sale transaction details, ii) retrieving buyer data from a fiduciary database relating to the buyer identifier device, iii) confirming the identity of the buyer in accordance with the buyer identifier device and a buyer identifier code sent by the seller, and iv) authorizing the seller to fill the purchase request received from the buyer in accordance with the sale transaction details, while retaining the confidentiality of buyer specific data contained in the fiduciary database. - View Dependent Claims (58, 59, 60, 61)
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Specification