US Patent 7409548 Maintaining confidentiality of personal information during E-commerce transactions

A method, system and program for maintaining confidentiality of personal information during E-commerce transactions. The method, means and program function include: (1) compiling a profile of personal information within a depository for at least the buying party to an E-commerce transaction; (2) providing the buying party with a unique identifier linked to his profile for use during subsequent E-commerce transactions; and (3) in response to the buying party providing the identifier to a merchant, completing the E-commerce transaction at the depository without providing any of the buyer's personal information to the merchant.