Abstract: A customer information collection method in which personal information of an individual who intends to download and use digital information is collected as customer information by a third party other than such an individual as a result of said third party acquiring the right to use the digital information, and the method comprising the steps of receiving an indication of a desire to use the digital information from the individual, prompting such an individual who has indicated the desire to input his/her own personal information as customer information, collecting and compiling such an inputted customer information, and transmitting a password is to the individual who has sent his/her own personal information to the third party so that such an individual can download and use the desired digital information.

Abstract: In a customer information collection method and system which collects and analyzes large quantities of reliable customer information in a secure and efficient manner and at a low cost, a recording medium on which added information is recorded is attached to a product, and the added information recorded on the recording medium is not disclosed unless the purchaser of the product inputs information concerning the purchaser as data and transmits this data to a predetermined location via an electrical communications circuit.