Patent ID: 8010779

Claim:
A method implemented in a non-transitory machine-readable medium for execution on a machine, comprising: acquiring, by the machine, a search and return process instructions for subsequent delivery of search results of a search, wherein the search and return process instructions are initially defined by a principal; encrypting, by the machine, the search using a first public key of a search service that is to perform the search; encrypting, by the machine, the return process instructions using a second public key of a return process that is to return the search results; submitting, by the machine, the encrypted search to the search service and the encrypted return process instructions to the return process; receiving, from the return process and at the machine, the search results in accordance with the return process instructions; and acquiring, by the machine, a private key and a public key for the principal from an identity service on behalf of the principal, wherein the private and public keys are associated with an identity of the principal; receiving, by the machine, the search results in an encrypted format from the return process, the encrypted format using the public key; and decrypting, by the machine, the encrypted search results using the private key of the principal.