Abstract: A document acquisition and authentication system comprising a web-based application that on behalf of its users can automatically: a) collect Digital Documents, b) create standardized descriptive metadata related to each Digital Document, c) use that descriptive metadata to organize, sort, and filter the collected Digital Documents, d) collect and create evidence that third party users can use to judge the authenticity of particular Digital Documents, e) protect the users privacy during the collection, storage, and sharing of the Digital Documents. The web-based application provides users with functionalities including user management, Source management, automatic and manual document acquisition, and document management and sharing. The System can receive Digital Documents that users manually upload into it and it enables users to manually enter standardized descriptive metadata. The System can then automatically handle the other functions for the Digital Documents.

Abstract: A document management system separates the rights and control of the author of a document, such as a financial institution reporting financial information to a client front the rights and control over the document contents of the owner of the document, such as the client of the financial institution whose information is being presented. In preferred embodiments, the document owner controls distribution of the document to desired users, such as a mortgage broker or a tax accountant, but without the ability to change the contents or at least without the ability to do so without the ability to make changes without detection. As a result, the author may provide the owner with a document that the owner can cause to be received by a desired user or other recipient while maintaining the authentication of the document by the issuing author, for example, the financial institution. The privacy and security of the data contents may be protected by encryption.