Apparatus and method for passing private demographic information between hyperlink destinations

A method of passing demographic information between computers, said method comprising the steps of:

• connecting an end-user computer to an entry site computer with an authentication operation identifying the computer operator on said end-user computer;
• generating, at said end-user computer, a hyperlink transfer request to a remote site computer;
• accessing, at said entry site computer, in response to said hyperlink transfer request, a remote site information repository to identify a remote site destination address and a remote site encryption key;
• associating, at said entry site computer, demographic information characterizing said computer operator;
• encrypting said demographic information with said remote site encryption key to form an encrypted demographic signal segment;
• combining said encrypted demographic signal segment with said remote site destination address to form an encrypted demographic hyperlink transfer request;
• delivering said encrypted demographic hyperlink transfer request to said end-user computer;
• and
• redirecting said encrypted demographic hyperlink transfer request to the remote computer specified by said remote site destination address.

A method of passing demographic information between computers, said method comprising the steps of:

• associating a computer operator from an end-user computer with demographic information;
• preparing a data file with a selectable computer transfer instruction embedded therein;
• combining said demographic information with a remote site destination address for said selectable computer transfer instruction to form a hyperlink transfer request associated with said selectable computer transfer instruction;
• and
• passing said data file to said end-user computer to allow said end-user computer to select said selectable computer transfer instruction on said data file such that said hyperlink transfer request is passed to the remote computer specified by said remote site destination address.

A method executed by a computer under the control of a program, said computer including a memory for storing said program, said method comprising the steps of:

• storing in said computer a list of remote site destination addresses;
• receiving in said computer demographic information corresponding to a computer operator;
• matching, in response to a hyperlink transfer request generated by said computer operator, a transfer address with an address in said list of remote site destination addresses to form a remote site destination address;
• combining said demographic information with said remote site destination address to form a demographic hyperlink transfer request;
• and
• passing said demographic hyperlink transfer request to said computer operator at an end-user computer, such that said end-user computer accesses the remote computer specified by said remote site destination address.

A computer readable memory to direct a computer to function in a specified manner, comprising:

• a list of remote site destination addresses stored in said memory;
• demographic information on a computer operator stored in said memory;
• and
• executable instructions stored in said memory, said executable instructions including:
• (1) instructions to match a transfer address from a hyperlink transfer address with a selected remote site destination address in said list of remote site destination addresses;
• (2) instructions to combine said demographic information with said selected remote site destination address to form a demographic hyperlink transfer request;
• and
• (3) instructions to pass said demographic hyperlink transfer request to said computer operator at an end-user computer, so that said end-user computer can access the remote computer specified by said remote site destination address.