Sharing personal information of a user

Abstract

A host-based system for sharing personal information of a network user with the resources accessed by that network user. The host-based system generally involves either or both of two data stores, referred to as passport and wallet. Passport and wallet are host-based collections of routinely requested personal information and can be maintained independently or collectively. A user with a populated passport or wallet can pass selected information to web sites, automatically or with very little effort, to enable an enhanced browsing experience or to assist in the completion of an online transaction.

1 . A computer-implemented method for sharing a user's financial information, the method comprising: 
 maintain a user's financial information at a first server system;    receiving, at the first server system, a request for the financial information from a second server system, wherein the second server system corresponds to a business entity and the user is engaged in an e-commerce transaction with the business entity through the second server system; and    sending, from the first server system, the requested financial information to the second server system such that the second server system uses the financial information to complete the e-commerce transaction which the user is engaged in with the business entity.    
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein sending, from the first server system, the requested financial information to the second server system comprises sending partial credit card information to the second server system such that the second server system solicits confirmation from the user that a credit card account associated with the credit card information should be used to complete the e-commerce transaction.  
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein sending, from the first server system, the requested financial information to the second server system comprises sending full credit card information to the second server system such that the second server system uses the full credit card information to complete the e-commerce transaction.  
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising: 
 receiving, at the first server system, a digital certificate from the second server system; and    verifying the identity of the second server using the digital certificate.    
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising gathering the user's financial information.  
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 5  wherein gathering the user's financial information comprises requesting information directly from the user.  
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the second server system corresponds to an e-commerce website.  
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising: 
 generating, at the first server system, an identifier; and    associating, at the first server system, the generated identifier with the financial information.    
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 8  further comprising: 
 receiving, at the first server system, an identifier from the second server system;    determining that the received identifier corresponds to the identifier associated with the financial information.    
   
   
       10 . A computer-implemented method for obtaining a user's financial information to complete an e-commerce transaction, the method comprising: 
 receiving, at a first server system, a request from a user to engage in an e-commerce transaction;    sending, from the first server system, a request for the financial information for the user to a second server system that maintains the user's financial information;    receiving, at the first server system, the requested financial information from the second server system; and    completing the e-commerce transaction using the received financial information.    
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 10  wherein receiving, at the first server system, the requested financial information from the second server system comprises: 
 receiving partial credit card information from the second server system;    requesting confirmation from the user that a credit card account associated with the credit card information should be used to complete the e-commerce transaction;    receiving confirmation from the user that the credit card account associated with the credit card information should be used to complete the e-commerce transaction;    receiving full credit card information after receiving the confirmation.    
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 10  wherein: 
 receiving, at the first server system, the requested financial information from the second server system comprises receiving full credit card information from the second server system; and    completing the e-commerce transaction using the received financial information comprises completing the e-commerce transaction using the full credit card information.    
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 10  further comprising sending, from the first server system, a digital certificate to the second server system.  
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 10  wherein the first server system includes a web server hosting a merchant website, the method further comprising: 
 receiving a request from the user for a web page in the merchant website; and    sending the requested web page to the user.    
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 10  further comprising: 
 receiving, at the first server system, an identifier;    sending the identifier to the second server system.    
   
   
       16 . A computer-implemented method for sharing a user's personal information, the method comprising: 
 maintain a user's personal information at a first server system;    associating, at the first server system, an identifier with the user's personal information;    receiving, at the first server system, a request for at least a portion of the user's personal information from a second server system, the request including an identifier; and    sending the requested information to the second server system when the received identifier corresponds to the identifier associated with the user's personal information.    
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 16  wherein associating, at the first server system, an identifier with the user's personal information comprises: 
 receiving, at the first server system, information that authenticates the user;    generating, at the first server system, the identifier in response to the server receiving the information that authenticates the user; and    associating, at the first server system, the generated identifier with the user's personal information.    
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 17  further comprising sending, from the first server system, the generated identifier to a client computer being used by the user.  
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 16  wherein sending, from the first server system, at least a portion of the user's personal information to the second server system comprises sending partial credit card information to the second server system such that the second server system solicits confirmation from the user that a credit card account associated with the credit card information should be used to complete an e-commerce transaction.  
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 16  wherein sending, from the first server system, at least a portion of the user's personal information to the second server system comprises sending full credit card information to the second server system such that the second server system completes an e-commerce transaction using the credit card information.