Apparatus and method for passing private demographic information between hyperlink destinations
First Claim
1. A method of passing demographic information between computers, said method comprising the steps of:
- accessing, in response to a hyperlink transfer request generated by a computer operator at an end-user computer, a remote site information repository to identify a remote site destination address;
associating said computer operator with demographic information characterizing said computer operator;
combining said demographic information with said remote site destination address to form a demographic hyperlink transfer request;
passing said demographic hyperlink transfer request to said end-user computer; and
redirecting said demographic hyperlink transfer request from said end-user computer to the remote computer specified by said remote site destination address.
10 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method of passing demographic information between computers includes the step of associating a computer operator with a set of demographic information. When the computer operator requests a transfer to another computer, a remote site information repository is accessed to identify a remote site destination address and a remote site encryption key. The demographic information is then encrypted using the remote site encryption key to form an encoded demographic signal. The encoded demographic signal is then combined with the remote site destination address to form an encoded demographic hyperlink transfer request, which is used to access the remote computer specified by the remote site destination address. The remote computer decrypts the encoded demographic information. The demographic information can be used by the remote computer in a number of ways, including the generation of a customized reply to an inquiry from the computer operator.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method of passing demographic information between computers, said method comprising the steps of:
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accessing, in response to a hyperlink transfer request generated by a computer operator at an end-user computer, a remote site information repository to identify a remote site destination address; associating said computer operator with demographic information characterizing said computer operator; combining said demographic information with said remote site destination address to form a demographic hyperlink transfer request; passing said demographic hyperlink transfer request to said end-user computer; and redirecting said demographic hyperlink transfer request from said end-user computer to the remote computer specified by said remote site destination address. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method of passing demographic information between computers, said method comprising the steps of:
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connecting an end-user computer to an entry site computer with an authentication operation identifying the computer operator on said end-user computer; generating, at said end-user computer, a hyperlink transfer request to a remote site computer; accessing, at said entry site computer, in response to said hyperlink transfer request, a remote site information repository to identify a remote site destination address and a remote site encryption key; associating, at said entry site computer, demographic information characterizing said computer operator; encrypting said demographic information with said remote site encryption key to form an encrypted demographic signal segment; combining said encrypted demographic signal segment with said remote site destination address to form an encrypted demographic hyperlink transfer request; delivering said encrypted demographic hyperlink transfer request to said end-user computer; and redirecting said encrypted demographic hyperlink transfer request to the remote computer specified by said remote site destination address. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of passing demographic information between computers, said method comprising the steps of:
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associating a computer operator from an end-user computer with demographic information; preparing a data file with a selectable computer transfer instruction embedded therein; combining said demographic information with a remote site destination address for said selectable computer transfer instruction to form a hyperlink transfer request associated with said selectable computer transfer instruction; and passing said data file to said end-user computer to allow said end-user computer to select said selectable computer transfer instruction on said data file such that said hyperlink transfer request is passed to the remote computer specified by said remote site destination address. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
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14. A method executed by a computer under the control of a program, said computer including a memory for storing said program, said method comprising the steps of:
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storing in said computer a list of remote site destination addresses; receiving in said computer demographic information corresponding to a computer operator; matching, in response to a hyperlink transfer request generated by said computer operator, a transfer address with an address in said list of remote site destination addresses to form a remote site destination address; combining said demographic information with said remote site destination address to form a demographic hyperlink transfer request; and passing said demographic hyperlink transfer request to said computer operator at an end-user computer, such that said end-user computer accesses the remote computer specified by said remote site destination address. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
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18. A computer readable memory to direct a computer to function in a specified manner, comprising:
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a list of remote site destination addresses stored in said memory; demographic information on a computer operator stored in said memory; and executable instructions stored in said memory, said executable instructions including; (1) instructions to match a transfer address from a hyperlink transfer address with a selected remote site destination address in said list of remote site destination addresses; (2) instructions to combine said demographic information with said selected remote site destination address to form a demographic hyperlink transfer request; and (3) instructions to pass said demographic hyperlink transfer request to said computer operator at an end-user computer, so that said end-user computer can access the remote computer specified by said remote site destination address. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21)
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Specification