Abstract: Some embodiments of the invention work in conjunction with a portable device, which when attached to a computing device invokes operations for storing personal information on the portable device, retrieving personal information from the portable device, encrypting personal information on the portable device, and decrypting information from the portable device. For these embodiments, the operations reside on the portable device and remain there during their performance. The operations are performed on the computing device, but are not permanently installed onto the computing device during performance. In addition, once the operations of these embodiments cease performance on the computing device, all data temporarily transferred from the portable device to the computing device during operation. In particular, any sensitive information that is stored and retrieved during the operations is removed from the computing device.