Importance

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Abstract

The invention provides secure and anonymous communications over a network, which is accomplished by imposing mechanisms that separate a users' actions from their identity. In one embodiment, involving use of the Internet, an http request, which normally contains both identity and action information, is separated in the first instance on the client side into action request and identity components, which are encrypted. The encrypted action and identity components are transmitted to a facility comprising an 'identity server' and an 'action server', wherein the identity server receives the two encrypted request components and forwards the encrypted action request component to an action server. The identity server has the key to decrypt the identity component (but not the action component), and the action server has the key to decrypt the action component (but not the identity component). The action server decrypts the action request and forwards it to the third-party server. The third-party server sends the http response back to the action server. The action server receives and encrypts the action response, and forwards it to the identity server. The identity server, which has been holding the unencrypted user identity information, receives the encrypted action response (which it cannot decipher), and forwards it to the client system, wherein the user's browser software uses the action response in the normal manner, so as to create the appropriate displays and/or multimedia output.

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First Claim