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Inventors: Robert H Nagel, et al

US patent number: 7,181,017

US patent application date: March 25, 2002
US patent issue date: February 20, 2007

SYNOPSIS OF THE INVENTION

This invention involves a system, method, and business model for transmitting confidential information (like medical records) from one party to another without compromising the security of the information or the privacy of the communication. An intermediary (third party) provides transaction-support services between the two parties involved in the communication. The system employs secure cryptographic schemes, which reduce the risks and liability for unauthorized disclosure of private information while maintaining efficient and robust transactions. The intermediary performs a requisite function with respect to the transaction but without the need to be trusted with the private information or the cryptographic keys used to communicate it. Neither the decryption key for the message nor the message itself is transmitted at any stage in the process in an analytic form. Therefore, the message is provided only to an authorized and actively authenticated recipient. A preferred communications network is the Internet, which permits transmission virtually anywhere via a single infrastructure. Alternately, private networks or virtual private networks could be used, and these eventually will be preferred due to the increased security and customized services they offer to users.