Profile and consent accrual

2:

• The method of claim 1, further comprising allowing, in response to the request for consent, access by the service to the requested user information if the user information is included in the user profile.

3:

• The method of claim 1, wherein the user profile is being maintained by a central server, said central server being coupled to the data communication network, and wherein the user interface is being provided by the central server and displays user information previously included in the user profile.

4:

• The method of claim 1, wherein the user interface displays a user-selectable option for viewing intention information associated with the requested user information, said intention information describing how the requested user information will be used by the service provided by the network server, and further comprising providing an intention user interface via the browser for displaying the intention information, said intention user interface being provided in response to the user-selectable option being selected by the user.

5:

• The method of claim 4, wherein said intention user interface further displays retention information associated with the requested user information, said retention information specifying how long the requested user information will be retained by the service provided by the network server.

6:

• The method of claim 4, wherein the service provided by the network server is a member of a policy group, and wherein said intention user interface further displays a list of members of said policy group.

7:

• The method of claim 6, wherein said intention user interface further displays a second user-selectable option for viewing a privacy policy associated with said policy group, said privacy policy relating to how user information that the policy group is granted consent to use is to be protected, and further comprising providing a policy user interface via the browser for displaying the privacy policy, said policy user interface being provided in response to the second user-selectable option being selected by the user.

8:

• The method of claim 1, wherein the service provided by the network is granted consent to use user information included in the user profile.

9:

• The method of claim 8, further comprising providing a revocation user interface via the browser for allowing the user to revoke consent for the service provided by the network server to use the user information included in the user profile, said revocation user interface displaying a list of services for which the user has granted consent to use the user information included in the user profile.

10:

• The method of claim 9, wherein said revocation user interface further displays a user-selectable option for revoking consent for the service provided by the network server to use the user information included in the user profile.

11:

• The method of claim 10, further comprising revoking consent for the service provided by the network server to use the user information included in the user profile in response to the user-selectable option being selected by the user.

12:

• The method of claim 1, further comprising providing an administrator user interface to a responsible person of the user in response to said receiving the user information provided by the user, said another user interface allowing the responsible person of the user to grant consent for the service provided by the network server to use the received user information and wherein said responsible person is a parent of the user.

13:

• The method of claim 12, wherein said allowing access by the service to the received user information comprises allowing access by the service to the received user information if consent for the service to use the received user information is granted by said responsible person.

14:

• The method of claim 1, wherein one or more computer-readable storage media have computer-executable instructions for performing the method recited in claim 1.

16:

• The computer-readable storage media of claim 15, wherein the user interface is configured to display the user-specific information previously stored in a profiling component, and further comprising revoking instructions for allowing the user to revoke consent for the first service provided by the network server to use the user-specific information stored in the profiling component, said revoking instructions displaying a list of member services that the user has granted consent to use the user-specific information stored in the profiling component.

17:

• The computer-readable storage media of claim 15, further comprising reviewing instructions for displaying intention information associated with the user information, said intention information describing how the user information will be used by the first service provided by the network server.

18:

• The computer-readable storage media of claim 17, wherein the reviewing instructions are configured to display retention information associated with the user information, said retention information specifying how long the user information will be retained by the first service provided by the network server.

19:

• The computer-readable storage media of claim 17, wherein the reviewing instructions are configured to display a list of member services of said policy group.

20:

• The computer-readable storage media of claim 15, further comprising managed-consent instructions for providing the received user information to a responsible person of the user to allow the responsible person of the user to grant consent for the first service provided by the network server to use the received user information.