Anonymous shopping transactions on a network through information broker services

A system for conducting anonymous on-line transactions, comprising:

• an information broker computer having one or more processors configured to:
• receive an anonymous credit card request associated with an on-line transaction over a network from a client computer;
• generate a unique single-use anonymous credit card number in response to the anonymous credit card request, wherein the unique single-use anonymous credit card number has an expiration date corresponding to a month and a year in which the on-line transaction takes place;
• link the anonymous credit card number to a real credit card account associated with the client computer;
• and
• send the anonymous credit card number to the client computer, wherein the client computer automatically communicates the anonymous credit card number to a merchant to conduct the on-line transaction.

A computer readable storage medium containing computer executable instructions for conducting anonymous on-line transactions, wherein executing the computer executable instructions on a processor causes the processor to:

• display an anonymous shopping toolbar in a browser executing on a client computer;
• communicate an anonymous credit card request associated with an on-line transaction to an information broker computer over a network in response to an input that selects an anonymous credit card option associated with the anonymous shopping toolbar;
• receive a unique single-use anonymous credit card number linked to a real credit card associated with the client computer from the information broker computer, wherein the unique single-use anonymous credit card number has an expiration date corresponding to a month and a year in which the on-line transaction takes place;
• and
• perform an auto-form fill process to automatically insert the anonymous credit card number into a transaction form and automatically transmit the auto-filled transaction form from the client computer to a merchant to conduct the on-line transaction.

A method for conducting anonymous shopping transactions on a network, comprising:

• receiving, at an information broker computer, an anonymous delivery request associated with an on-line transaction from a client computer, wherein the information broker computer receives the anonymous delivery request over a network;
• generating, at the information broker computer, an anonymous delivery address in response to the anonymous delivery request, wherein the anonymous delivery address corresponds to an address associated with a delivery service hub station and has a routing code embedded therein;
• linking the routing code embedded in the address associated with the delivery service hub station to a real delivery address associated with the client computer;
• and
• sending the anonymous delivery address from the information broker computer to the client computer, wherein the client computer automatically communicates the anonymous delivery address to a merchant to conduct the on-line transaction.

A system for conducting anonymous on-line transactions, comprising:

• an information broker computer having one or more processors configured to:
• receive an anonymous delivery request associated with an on-line transaction over a network from a client computer;
• generate an anonymous delivery address in response to the anonymous delivery request, wherein the anonymous delivery address corresponds to an address associated with a delivery service hub station and has a routing code embedded therein;
• link the routing code embedded in the address associated with the delivery service hub station to a real delivery address associated with the client computer;
• and
• send the anonymous delivery address to the client computer, wherein the client computer automatically communicates the anonymous delivery address to a merchant to conduct the on-line transaction.

A computer readable storage medium containing computer executable instructions for conducting anonymous on-line transactions, wherein executing the computer executable instructions on a processor causes the processor to:

• display an anonymous shopping toolbar in a browser executing on a client computer;
• communicate an anonymous delivery request associated with an on-line transaction to an information broker computer over a network in response to an input that selects an anonymous delivery option associated with the anonymous shopping toolbar;
• receive an anonymous delivery address linked to a real delivery address associated with the client computer from the information broker computer, wherein the anonymous delivery address corresponds to an address associated with a delivery service hub station and has a routing code embedded therein;
• and
• perform an auto-form fill process to automatically insert the anonymous delivery number into a shipping address form and automatically transmit the auto-filled shipping address form from the client computer to a merchant to conduct the on-line transaction.