Abstract: A data gathering system is guided by an Internet-capable appliance associated with a user, which has a Pin Vault software instance executing from a digital memory media coupled to the appliance and a Pin Vault file stored in a data repository coupled to the appliance. The Pin Vault file comprises data for authenticating the user to one or more web sites storing information of interest to the user, and the Pin Vault software cooperates with an Internet service to provide, from the Pin Vault, data as needed by the Internet service to log onto and authenticate as the user at the one or more web sites storing information of interest to the user, to gather information on behalf of the user. The data for authentication is never kept at the Internet service.

Abstract: A data gathering system is guided by an Internet-capable appliance associated with a user, which has a Pin Vault software instance executing from a digital memory media coupled to the appliance and a Pin Vault file stored in a data repository coupled to the appliance. The Pin Vault file comprises data for authenticating the user to one or more web sites storing information of interest to the user, and the Pin Vault software cooperates with an Internet service to provide, from the Pin Vault, data as needed by the Internet service to log onto and authenticate as the user at the one or more web sites storing information of interest to the user, to gather information on behalf of the user. The data for authentication is never kept at the Internet service.

Abstract: A system for synchronizing data records between a network data server and a requesting client device has a client software application and a network server software application. The system is characterized in that the client application maintains a first table of unique identifiers for data records stored at the client and sends a copy of the table with a request for data from the server, and the server maintains a second table of unique identifiers for candidate data records to be sent to the client, the identifiers at server and client formed by a common process, and in that the server, on receiving the request and first table from the client, compares the first table and the second table, then sends to the client only those records indicated by the comparison as new to the client and a notification of table updates.