Patent ID: 7827247

Claim:
A machine implemented method for verifying identities of parties for electronic communication, the method comprising the steps of: maintaining, by at least one computer, a plurality of verified parental accounts, each verified parental account comprising at least a verified identity of at least one parent and at least one electronic communication alias of at least one associated child account; receiving, by the at least one computer, a request from a first child account to an associated parent account to allow electronic communication with a second child account, the request comprising at least an electronic communication alias associated with the second child account and additional information concerning a target party, the additional information comprising validated personal data concerning a second child; searching, by the at least one computer, the plurality of parental accounts for the electronic communication alias associated with the second child account; attempting to verify, by the at least one computer, the additional information concerning the target party; transmitting, by the at least one computer, an identity verification request to a parent account associated with the second child account, the identity verification request disclosing the identity of the parent associated with the first child account, and requesting reciprocal verification of the identity of the parent associated with the second child account; and at least partially responsive to results of the searching step and the attempting to verify step, determining, by the at least one computer, whether to allow electronic communication between the first child account and the second child account.