Electrical computers and digital processing systems: multicomput – Remote data accessing
Reexamination Certificate
2000-01-21
2002-12-17
Lim, Krisna (Department: 2153)
Electrical computers and digital processing systems: multicomput
Remote data accessing
C709S202000, C709S223000, C709S228000, C713S152000, C713S152000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06496855
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the registration of internet users at websites.
BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION
Before using many websites, internet users need to fill in an often cumbersome registration form providing personal data. Site owners require this information for marketing purposes and to personalise the offering to customers. Registration demands can range from the basic requirement of a name and email address to a detailed request for personal information including street address, employment details and even salary levels. This process gives rise to a number of problems for users. Registration is often slow and not intuitive, with an additional problem that formats differ from site to site. Once registered with more than one site, users also have the problem of keeping track of the different user names and passwords that they use. When a user's information changes (email, addresses etc.) the management of multiple registrations becomes unwieldy. Furthermore, users have little or no control of information released to sites which can on-sell the personal data leading to both a breach of individual privacy and, perhaps inevitably, an accompanying barrage of unwanted direct marketing emails or “spam”.
A typical internet user may be registered with between four and ten sites and would probably register with one new site each month. The greater these numbers the more serious the problem becomes. New users and sites are coming to the internet at exponential rates of growth so this problem can only get worse.
Though necessary for their business model, registration also poses a major problem to site owners. Users quite often enter bogus information (often several times having forgotten their password and thus having to register anew), which is of no use to site owners whilst bearing a data storage cost. Bogus information is entered for a number of reasons: frustration with the speed of the registration process, a general mistrust of the security and subsequent use of the data, or simply because the user has forgotten the previous registration details. Indeed, as much as 50% of all consumer data held by major sites on the internet is estimated to be false. Even genuine registration data becomes inaccurate over time if it is not up-dated.
Another problem is that users frustrated with the registration process will stop before completion so that the site loses a new potential customer. It is estimated that over 50% of potential users are lost due to aborted registrations.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to a first aspect of the present invention, in an arrangement comprising at least one computer network connecting at least one personal computer to at least one service computer, the personal computer being associated with at least one user, a method for managing the registration of the user with the at least one service computer, the method comprising the steps of:
gathering registration data for the at least one service computer;
storing the registration data in at least one data structure on at least one registration agent computer connected to the computer network;
gathering personal data for the user;
storing at least part of the personal data in at least one data structure on at least one registration agent computer connected to the computer network; and,
in response to a request from the user to a registration agent computer connected to the computer network to register the user with the at least one service computer, submitting an application to register the user with the at least one service computer by transmitting registration information from at least one registration agent computer to the service computer, the registration information being compiled from data obtained by accessing the users personal data stored in the associated data structure and by accessing registration data for the service computer stored in the associated data structure.
The service computer may be a product-provider and/or an information-provider.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in a method for registering a user at a client node of a communications network with at least one server node connected to the communications network by the use of at least one registration agent server node connected to the communications network which stores personal data associated with the user together with registration data associated with the at least one server node, the method comprising the steps of registering the user with the at least one server node in response to a user request received at the registration agent server node by completing and transmitting on behalf of the user a registration application from the registration agent server node to the at least one server node based on the personal data associated with the user and the registration data associated with the at least one server node.
Preferably, the computer or communications network utilises an internet protocol.
Preferably, each of the service computer or server nodes is a website having a server connected to an internet or intranet. Preferably, the at least one registration agent computer or registration agent server node is connected to an internet, intranet or internet protocol (IP) network.
Preferably, the at least one registration agent computer or registration agent server node is a World Wide Web server.
Preferably, the at least one registration agent computer or registration agent server node operates a World Wide Web site.
Preferably, the step of transmitting an application to register the user is preceded by the step of verifying a user identification and more preferably, a password, entered by the user which identifies the user with respect to the associated personal data.
Preferably, the method includes the steps of storing personal data in the form of a master user profile data structure which uniquely describes the user, together with a number of personal registration data structures, each of which describes registration data associated with the successful registration of the user with a service computer or server node. The personal registration data structures permit repeat visits to the service computer or server node without the user having to go through the registration procedure again.
Preferably, the method includes the step of accepting user inputs which define a privacy policy in relation to the user's personal data which describes the extent to which the personal data is to be released for the purpose of submitting a registration application.
Preferably, the method includes the step of providing a unique proxy address for the user in a registration application so that communications addressed to the user using the unique address are received by the at least one registration agent computer or registration agent server and are subsequently forwarded to the user. More preferably, the communications are forwarded to the user in dependence on an email filtering policy accepted by the user. Most preferably, a different proxy address for the user is allocated for each subsequent registration with other service computers or server nodes.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, an apparatus for managing the registration of a user in accordance with either one of the first and second aspects of the present invention, comprises:
means for storing registration data;
means for storing personal data;
means for receiving a user request to submit a registration application on behalf of the user to a remote site;
means for completing a registration application based on a combination of personal data associated with the user and registration data associated with the remote site; and,
means for transmitting a completed registration application to the remote site on behalf of the user.
Preferably, the apparatus comprises a computer storage medium containing computer executable instructions for performing the method of either one of the first and second aspects of the present invention. More preferably, the apparatus comprises a server. Most preferably, the server is a
Byrn Mark A.
Gladstone Benedict T. S.
Hunt John F. W.
Kalaher Patrick B.
Lidwell Peter R.
America Online Inc.
Glenn Michael A.
Lim Krisna
Wong Kirk D.
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