Patent ID: 8769266

Claim:
A method performed by a computing device, the method comprising: obtaining, on a computing device via a network coupled to the computing device, data to include in a message to send, via the network, to a third party delegating at least one ability to perform at least one task, the data including: a second digital certificate issued from a client to the third party; and a universal resource identifier (URI) identifying a storage location for retrieving a first digital certificate from a database associated with the client, wherein the first digital certificate is issued from an authorizer to the client, is stored by the client in the database associated with the client, and is never provided to the third party; generating, on the computing device, the message including the obtained data; transmitting the message from the computing device via the network to the third party; receiving, by the computing device via the network and from the authorizer, a request to authorize the at least one ability to perform the at least one task delegated to the third party, the authorization request received with regard to an attempt by the third party to perform at least one of the at least one tasks on behalf of the client; and in response to the received request, retrieving the first digital certificate based on the URI and providing the first digital certificate directly to the authorizer to authorize the third party's delegated at least one ability to perform the at least one task.