System and method for selective information exchange

In a network including a plurality of network devices operated by a plurality of users, a real-time information exchange system for sharing user profile information between respective users of the network devices, comprising:

• a first database management system storing a first subset of the user profile data for a plurality of registered users of the information exchange system, the first subset of profile information including a plurality of data elements, each data element having an associated one of the plurality of registered users;
• and
• a first network server connected to the network and the first database management system, the first network server including:
• a first processor;
• and
• a first program memory connected to the first processor and having program instructions stored therein, the first processor being operable to execute the program instructions, the program instructions including:
• for each registered user, selectively granting and denying access to each of the registered user's associated data elements, to other users in the network.

In a network including a plurality of network devices operated by a plurality of users, a method for storing member profile information that provides for selective real-time information exchange of the member profile information between network devices comprising the steps of:

• receiving profile information for a member, the member having a member identification number and an associated public key/private key pair;
• generating a secret key for each granular data element of the received profile information;
• encrypting each granular data element using its associated secret key;
• storing each encrypted granular data element in a first database;
• encrypting each secret key with the member's public key;
• and
• storing each encrypted secret key in a second database, along with the member's identification number.

In a network including a plurality of network devices operated by a plurality users, a method for granting access to member profile information that provides for selective real-time information exchange of the member profile information between network devices comprising the steps of:

• selecting, by a member, at least one data element associated with the member;
• selecting, by the member, at least one other member to which to grant access to the selected data elements;
• for each data element,
• retrieving an encrypted secret key associated with the data element and the member;
• decrypting the encrypted secret key with a private key associated with the member;
• and
• for each selected member,
• encrypting the secret key with the member's associated public key;
• and
• storing the encrypted secret key and the member's identification number in a database.

In a network including a plurality of network devices operated by a plurality of users, a method for retrieving member profile information of another member that provides for selective real-time information exchange of the member profile information between network devices comprising the steps of:

• selecting a data element for retrieval;
• retrieving an encrypted secret key associated with the requestor and the data element;
• decrypting the encrypted secret key using the member's private key;
• decrypting the data element using the secret key;
• and
• providing the decrypted data element to the requestor.

In a network, a real-time information exchange server comprising:

• a data storage including a database of profile information for a plurality of members, the profile information for each member including a member identification number and a public/private key pair;
• a processor connected to the data storage;
• a memory connected to the processor and having program instructions stored therein, the processor being operable to execute the program instructions, the program instructions including:
• receiving data elements to be stored in the database, each data element having an associated member;
• generating a secret key for each received data element;
• encrypting each data element with its corresponding secret key;
• storing each encrypted data element in a first table in the database;
• encrypting each generated secret key using the associated member's public key;
• and
• storing each encrypted secret key, its corresponding member's ID and a reference to the corresponding stored encrypted data element in a second table in the database.

In a network including a plurality of network devices operated by a plurality of users, a real-time information exchange system for sharing member profile information between the network devices comprising:

• means for storing member profile information;
• means, controlled by each respective member, for selectively granting and denying access to its stored member profile information on a field-by-field basis;
• and
• means for retrieving, by one member, the member profile information of another member.