Method and system for electronic delivery of sensitive information

Abstract

A method and related system obtains consent from a user for electronic delivery of sensitive information. The user operating a first computer accesses a web page on a server system to input the consent. The web page prompts for the consent from the user. Once the consent is received at the server system, the consent is stored and sensitive information is delivered electronically to an e-mail address specified by the user. Once consent is indicated, it is communicated from the individual's computer to another computer such as a server over, for example, a modem connection. Having secured the individual's consent, the additional sensitive information may be delivered to the individual's computer as, for example, a URL attachment to an email message.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system of obtaining consent to electronically send sensitive information to a user, the method comprising:
 under control of a server system:
 sending a communication to a first client system, the communication comprising computer executable instructions for obtaining a consent response from the user for electronic delivery of the sensitive information; 
 receiving the consent response from the first client system; 
 storing the consent response; and 
 if the consent response is positive, causing the sensitive information to be electronically delivered the user. 
   
     
     
         2 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , further comprising:
 under control of the server system:
 wherein the communication comprises a consent request form. 
   
     
     
         3 . The method as recited in  claim 2 , further comprising:
 under control of the first client system:
 receiving the consent request form; 
 displaying the consent request form; 
 accepting data from the user for at least one field in the consent request form; and 
 sending the accepted data to the server system. 
   
     
     
         4 . The method as recited in  claim 3 , further comprising:
 under control of the server system:
 determining whether the data received from the first client system indicates consent to electronically send sensitive information to the user; and 
 if the received data indicates consent, electronically sending sensitive information to the user. 
   
     
     
         5 . The method as recited in  claim 4 , wherein the step of electronically sending sensitive information comprises at least one of:
 (i) sending a first e-mail message to a destination address associated with the user, the first e-mail message including a URI, pointing to the sensitive information; and   (ii) sending a second e-mail message to the destination address associated with the user, the second e-mail message including the sensitive information.   
     
     
         6 . The method as recited in  claim 1 ,  2 ,  3  or  4  wherein the server system and first client system communicate over a computer network. 
     
     
         7 . A system for obtaining consent to electronically send sensitive information to a user, the system comprising:
 a server system programmed to:
 send a communication to the user, the communication comprising instructions for the user to consent to electronic delivery of the sensitive information; 
 receive the consent from the user; 
 store the received consent; and 
 cause the sensitive information to be sent to the user. 
   
     
     
         8 . The system as recited in  claim 7 , wherein the communication comprises disclosure information regarding electronic delivery of sensitive information. 
     
     
         9 . The system as recited in  claim 7 , wherein the communication comprises a message sent over a network. 
     
     
         10 . The system as recited in  claim 7 , wherein the communication comprises a computer readable device. 
     
     
         11 . The system as recited in  claim 7 ,  9 , or  10  wherein the communication comprises a link which the user can follow to indicate consent. 
     
     
         12 . The system as recited in  claim 7 ,  9 , or  10 , wherein the communication comprises a link which points to a document containing sensitive information. 
     
     
         13 . The system as recited in  claim 7 ,  9 ,  10 , or  11 , wherein a user's ability to access sensitive information is recorded. 
     
     
         14 . The system as recited in  claim 7 , wherein:
 the server system is further operative to:
 cause a consent request form to be sent to a first client system. 
   
     
     
         15 . The system as recited in  claim 14 , wherein:
 the first client system is operative to:
 receive the consent request form from the server system; 
 display the consent request form; 
 accept data from the user for at least one field in the consent request form; and 
 send the accepted data to the server system. 
   
     
     
         16 . The system as recited in  claim 14  or  15 , wherein the server system and first client system communicate over a computer network. 
     
     
         17 . The system as recited in  claim 15 , wherein:
 the server system is further operative to:
 determine whether the data received from the first client system indicates consent to electronically send sensitive information to the user; and 
 if the received information indicates consent, electronically send sensitive information to the user. 
   
     
     
         18 . The system as recited in  claim 17 , wherein the step of electronically sending sensitive information comprises at least one of:
 sending a first e-mail message to a destination address associated with the user, the first e-mail message including a URI pointing to the sensitive information; and   (ii) sending a second e-mail message to the destination address associated with the user, the second e-mail message including the sensitive information,   
     
     
         19 . A computer-implemented method of obtaining consent from a user on a first computer for electronic delivery of sensitive information, the computer-implemented method comprising:
 displaying, on the first computer, a consent form having at least one field to be completed with data from the user;   transmitting the data in the at least one completed field from the first computer to a second computer;   receiving, at the second computer, the transmitted data; and   storing the received data in the second computer, the received data being associated with the USU.   
     
     
         20 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 19 , wherein the consent form is an HTML document.