E-service to manage contact information with privacy levels

Abstract

A method of providing access to a collection of electronic business cards, includes: providing an electronic business card file Web site to a user; allowing the creation of an electronic business card file by the user using said Web site, said creation comprising: allowing the user to enter information into a plurality of fields; storing said information; and sending an authentication email to the user, wherein a reply to said authentication email is required to complete said creation; allowing the user to search for one or more records; allowing the user to view said records; and if said creation is completed, allowing the setting of privacy levels by the user of each field, said setting comprising selecting one of more than two privacy levels.

1 . A method of providing access to a collection of electronic business cards, comprising the steps of: 
 providing an electronic business card file Web site to a user;    allowing the creation of an-electronic business card file by the user using said Web site, said creation comprising:    allowing the user to enter information into a plurality of fields;    storing said information; and    sending an authentication email to the user, wherein a reply to said authentication email is required to complete said creation;    allowing the user to search for one or more records;    allowing the user to view said records; and    if said creation is completed, allowing the setting of privacy levels by the user of each field, said setting. comprising selecting one of more than two privacy levels.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said electronic business card file Web site is accessible from the Internet.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said electronic business card file Web site is accessible from an intranet isolated from the Internet by a firewall security device.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said electronic business card file Web site is accessible from a web browser.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said electronic business card file Web site is accessible from a personal digital assistant.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said electronic business card file Web site is accessible from a browser-enabled telephone.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said electronic business card file Web site is accessible by spoken commands.  
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein aid first format comprises audio playback.  
     
     
         9 . A computer system for providing access to a collection of electronic business cards, comprising computer instructions for: 
 providing an electronic business card file Web site to a user;    allowing the creation of an electronic business card file by the user using said Web site, said creation comprising:    allowing the user to enter information into a plurality of fields;    storing said information; and    sending an authentication email to the user, wherein a reply to said authentication email is required to complete said creation;    allowing the user to search for one or more records;    allowing the user to view said records;    if said creation is completed, allowing the setting of privacy levels by the user for each said field, said setting comprising selecting one of more than two privacy levels.    
     
     
         10 . The computer system of  claim 9 , wherein said electronic business card file Web site is accessible from the Internet.  
     
     
         11 . The computer system of  claim 9 , wherein said electronic business card file Web site is accessible from an intranet isolated from the Internet by a firewall security device.  
     
     
         12 . The computer system of  claim 9 , wherein said electronic business card file Web site is accessible from a web browser.  
     
     
         13 . The computer system of  claim 9 , wherein said electronic business card file Web site is accessible from a personal digital assistant.  
     
     
         14 . The computer system of  claim 9 , wherein said electronic business card file Web site is accessible from a browser-enabled telephone.  
     
     
         15 . The computer system of  claim 9 , wherein said electronic business card file Web site is accessible by spoken commands.  
     
     
         16 . The computer system of  claim 9 , wherein said first format comprises audio playback.  
     
     
         17 - 24 . (canceled)  
     
     
         25 . A computer data signal embodied in a carrier wave, comprising computer instructions for: 
 providing an electronic business card file Web site to a user;    allowing the creation of an electronic business card file by the user using said Web site, said creation comprising:    allowing the user to enter information into a plurality of fields;    storing said information; and    sending an authentication email to the user, wherein a reply to said authentication email is required to complete said creation;    allowing the user to search for one or more records;    allowing the user to view said records;    if said creation is completed, allowing the setting of privacy levels by the user for each said field, said setting comprising selecting one of more than two privacy levels.    
     
     
         26 . The computer data signal of  claim 25 , wherein said electronic business card file Web site is accessible from the Internet.  
     
     
         27 . The computer data signal of  claim 25 , wherein said electronic business card file Web site is accessible from an intranet isolated from the Internet by a firewall security device.  
     
     
         28 . The computer data signal of  claim 25 , wherein said electronic business card file Web site is accessible from a web browser.  
     
     
         29 . The computer data signal of  claim 25 , wherein said electronic business card file Web site is accessible from a personal digital assistant.  
     
     
         30 . The computer data signal of  claim 25 , wherein said electronic business card file Web site is accessible from a browser-enabled telephone.  
     
     
         31 . The computer data signal of  claim 25 , wherein said electronic business card file Web site is accessible by spoken commands.  
     
     
         32 . The computer data signal of  claim 25 , wherein said first format comprises audio playback.  
     
     
         33 . A computer data signal embodied in a carrier wave, comprising computer instructions for: 
 providing an electronic business card file web site to a user;    allowing the creation of an electronic business card file by the user using said Web site, said creation comprising:    allowing the user to enter information into a plurality of fields in the electronic business card file;    storing said information; and    sending an authentication email to the user, wherein a reply to said authentication email is required to complete said creation;    allowing the user to search for one or more records;    allowing the user to view said records and to export electronic business card data from records in a private list of the user to a file readable by a contact management program, wherein another user associated with a record in the private list has extra privileges granted by the user;    if said creation is completed, allowing the setting of privacy levels by the user for each said field, said setting comprising selecting one of more than two privacy levels, wherein the electronic business card file Web site is accessible by spoken commands, wherein the user can sent the privacy level to Private, Semi-Private, or Public for each particular field in the electronic business card file, wherein the user can set the privacy level to Privacy, Semi-Private, or Public by selecting a Private icon, Semi- Private icon, or Public icon, respectively, for a corresponding field in the electronic business card file; and    allowing the user to indicate a location of the user prior to an expiration date; and    sending an electronic mail by the user to a recipient, wherein the electronic mail contains a signature hypertext link that permits the recipient to access the electronic business card file Web site in order to create a new electronic business card file for the recipient and to access information in a permitted field of the electronic business card file of the user.    
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 editing the electronic business card to permit a temporary location pointer to the user.    
     
     
         35 . The computer system of  claim 9 , further comprising: 
 editing the electronic business card to permit a temporary location pointer to the user.    
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the electronic business card file Web site is implemented by user of two front-end web servers and a database server that is accessed by the two front-end web servers.  
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the user can set the privacy level to Private, Semi-Private, or Public by selecting a Private icon, Semi-Private icon, or Public icon, respectively, for a corresponding field in the electronic business card file.  
     
     
         38 . The computer system of  claim 9 , wherein the electronic business card file Web site is implemented by use of two front-end web servers and a database server that is accessed by the two front-end and web servers.  
     
     
         39 . The computer system of  claim 9 , wherein the user can set the privacy level to Private, Semi- Private, or Public by selecting a Private icon, Semi- Private icon, or Public icon, respectively, for a corresponding field in the electronic business card file.  
     
     
         40 . A method of processing electronic business cards, the method comprising: 
 creating an electronic business card file by use of a communication network;    storing the electronic business card file in a storage device in the communication network; and    permitting a setting of at least one security level for at least one information field in the electronic business card file so that access is restricted for the information field.    
     
     
         41 . An apparatus for processing electronic business cards, the apparatus comprising: 
 a communication network; and    a storage device connected to the communication network and configured to store an electronic business card file, wherein the electronic business card file is configured to permit a setting of at least one security level for at least one information field in the electronic business card file so that access is restricted for the information field.    
     
     
         42 . An apparatus for processing electronic business cards, the apparatus comprising: 
 means for creating an electronic business card file by use of a communication network;    means for storing the electronic business card file in a storage device in the communication network; and    means for permitting a setting of at least one security level for at least one information field in the electronic business card file so that access is restricted for the information field.