Method of and system for effecting anonymous credit card purchases over the internet

Abstract

A transaction system for performing secure transactions over a communication network includes (i) a merchant server system including a computer processor and associated memory, the merchant server system offering items for sale; (ii) a buyer system including a computer processor and associated memory, the buyer system being selectively couplable to the merchant server system over the communication network to initiate a transaction, wherein, during the transaction, the buyer system selects one or more of the items for purchase; (iii) a security server system including a computer processor and associated memory and an encryption device, the security server system receiving buyer information from the buyer system, encrypting the buyer information in an encryption key that prevents the merchant server system from decrypting the buyer information, and transferring the encrypted buyer information to the merchant server system; and (iv) a third server system including a computer processor and associated memory, the third server system being selectively couplable to the merchant server system, wherein the merchant server system transmits at least a portion of the encrypted buyer information to the third server system for processing during the transaction.

1 - 29 . (canceled) 
     
     
         30 . A transaction system comprising:
 a first server separate from a processor, wherein the first server is configured to:
 transmit a request for information to a remote device, wherein the remote device is separate from the processor and the first server; 
 receive the information, wherein the information is associated with a transaction; 
 encrypt with a first encryption key associated with the processor at least a first portion of the information, wherein the first portion is configured for use by the processor; and 
 encrypt with a second encryption key associated with a second server at least a second portion of the information, wherein the second portion is configured for use by the second server; 
   wherein the processor is configured to:
 receive the first portion of the information; 
   wherein a third server associated with the transaction does not possess an ability to decrypt the first portion of the information and does not possess an ability to decrypt the second portion of the information,   wherein the third server is separate from the first server,   wherein the third server is configured to send the encrypted first portion of the buyer information to the processor, and   wherein the encrypted first portion of the information comprises transaction information.   
     
     
         31 . The transaction system of  claim 30 , the third server is configured to send a checkout request to the first server 
     
     
         32 . The transaction system of  claim 30 , wherein the first server is further configured to send the encrypted first portion of the information and the encrypted second portion of the information to the third server. 
     
     
         33 . The transaction system of  claim 32 , wherein the encrypted first portion of the information and the encrypted second portion of the information is packaged in an extensible markup language (XML) document. 
     
     
         34 . The transaction system of  claim 30 , wherein the encrypted first portion of the information and the encrypted second portion of the information are encrypted using public key encryption and the first encryption key and second encryption key each comprises a public key. 
     
     
         35 . The transaction system of  claim 30 , wherein the first server is further configured to send the encrypted first portion of the information to the processor. 
     
     
         36 . The transaction system of  claim 30 , wherein the first portion of the information comprises a name and payment information. 
     
     
         37 . The transaction system of  claim 30 , wherein the processor is configured to request a payment authorization from a bank server based on the first portion of the information. 
     
     
         38 . The transaction system of  claim 30 , wherein the third server is configured to send the encrypted second portion of the information to the second server. 
     
     
         39 . The transaction system of  claim 30 , wherein the first server is further configured to send the encrypted second portion of the information to the second server. 
     
     
         40 . The transaction system of  claim 30 , wherein the second portion of the information comprises an order number associated with a transaction, a name, and an address. 
     
     
         41 . The transaction system of  claim 40 , wherein the second server is further configured to associate the order number with a package. 
     
     
         42 . The transaction system of  claim 41 , wherein the first server is further configured to receive a target list including the second portion of the information from the third server, and send the name and the address to a fulfillment server, wherein the fulfillment server is configured to cause the name and the address to be applied to materials provided by a merchant. 
     
     
         43 . The transaction system of  claim 30 , wherein the first server is further configured to replace an alias email address associated with a true email address. 
     
     
         44 . The transaction system of  claim 43 , wherein the first server is further configured to receive a return material authorization from the third server, and address the return material authorization with the true email address. 
     
     
         45 . The transaction system of  claim 30 , wherein the first server is further configured to process a chargeback report from the processor comprising filtering the chargeback report for information. 
     
     
         46 . The transaction system of  claim 30 , wherein the first server is further configured to execute the transaction using the received information. 
     
     
         47 . An apparatus comprising:
 a first server configured to:
 transmit a request for information to a remote device, wherein the remote device is separate from the first server; 
 receive the information, wherein the information is associated with a transaction; 
 encrypt with a first encryption key associated with a processor at least a first portion of the information, wherein the first portion is configured for use by the processor, and wherein the processor is separated from the first server; and 
 encrypt with a second encryption key associated with a second server at least a second portion of the information, wherein the second portion is configured for use by the second server; 
   wherein a third server associated with the transaction does not possess an ability to decrypt the first portion of the information and does not possess an ability to decrypt the second portion of the information,   wherein the third server is separate from the first server,   wherein the third server is configured to send the encrypted first portion of the information to the processor, and   wherein the encrypted first portion of the information comprises transaction information.   
     
     
         48 . The apparatus of  claim 47 , wherein the first server is configured to receive a checkout request from the third server. 
     
     
         49 . A transaction system comprising:
 a first server associated with a transaction;   a processor separate from the first server; and   a second server, separate from the first server and the processor, the second server configured to:
 transmit a request for information to a remote device, wherein the remote device is separate from the processor and the second server; 
 receive information of the remote device; 
 encrypt with a first encryption key associated with the processor at least a first portion of the information, wherein the first portion is configured for use by the processor; and 
 encrypt with a second encryption key associated with a third server at least a second portion of the information, wherein the second portion is configured for use by the third server; 
   wherein the first server associated with the transaction does not possess an ability to decrypt the first portion of the information and does not possess an ability to decrypt the second portion of the information,   wherein the first server is configured to send the encrypted first portion of the information to the processor, and   wherein the encrypted first portion of the information comprises transaction information.   
     
     
         50 . The transaction system of  claim 49 , wherein the second server is further configured to separate the received information into payment information and delivery information, wherein the payment information is included in the first portion of the information, and wherein the delivery information is included in the second portion of the information. 
     
     
         51 . The transaction system of  claim 50 , wherein the second server is further configured to couple to a fourth server; wherein the fourth server is configured to:
 obtain a plurality of identifying indicia from each of a plurality of parties;   perform a one-way hash function on each of the plurality of identifying indicia to form a plurality of hashed identifiers, wherein a particular output of the one-way hash function is unique to a particular input of the hash function; and   form an array of hashed identifiers for each of the plurality of parties, wherein each array includes a number of hashed identifiers that are unique to each party.