Patent ID: 8498940

Claim:
A computer-implemented method, comprising: registering one time, at a server associated with an authenticating entity, information comprising an identity uniquely associated with an individual account owner and an account held by the authenticating entity, wherein the registering includes receiving a user permission authorizing the authenticating entity to share a selected portion of the information with a plurality of selected requesting parties; receiving an authentication request at the server associated with the authenticating entity from a requesting party to authenticate an unauthenticated individual purporting to be the individual account owner, responsive to a request being provided by a client terminal associated with the unauthenticated individual to the requesting party; authenticating, by the server associated with the authenticating entity, the unauthenticated individual as the individual account owner by matching a token presented by the unauthenticated individual to the identity uniquely associated with the individual account owner; and responsive solely to the authenticating, providing from the server associated with the authenticating entity to the requesting party only the selected portion of the information previously authorized by the individual account owner to be shared with the plurality of selected requesting parties.