Computational systems and methods for regulating information flow during interactions

1 . A system comprising:

circuitry for accepting at least one request for personal information from a party to a transaction;

circuitry for evaluating the transaction;

circuitry for selecting a persona at least partly based on an evaluation of the transaction, wherein the persona is linked to a unique identifier that is at least partly based on a user's device-identifier data and the user's network-participation data; and

circuitry for presenting the persona in response to the request for personal information.

2 . The system of claim 1 wherein the circuitry for accepting at least one request for personal information from a party to a transaction comprises:

circuitry for accepting a plurality of fields on a web page as the at least one request for personal information.

3 . The system of claim 1 wherein the circuitry for accepting at least one request for personal information from a party to a transaction comprises:

circuitry for accepting at least one request for personal information from a vendor in an online transaction.

4 . The system of claim 1 wherein the circuitry for accepting at least one request for personal information from a party to a transaction comprises:

circuitry for accepting a request for personal information consisting of name, email address, birthdate, and credit card information from a vendor in an online transaction.

5 . The system of claim 1 wherein the circuitry for evaluating the transaction comprises:

circuitry for evaluating a monetary value for the transaction.

6 . The system of claim 1 wherein the circuitry for evaluating the transaction comprises:

circuitry for evaluating the party to the transaction.

7 . The system of claim 6 wherein the circuitry for evaluating the party to the transaction comprises:

circuitry for evaluating transaction history about the party to the transaction.

8 . The system of claim 1 wherein the circuitry for selecting a persona at least partly based on an evaluation of the transaction, wherein the persona is linked to a unique identifier that is at least partly based on a user's device-identifier data and the user's network-participation data comprises:

circuitry for selecting a persona at least partly based on an evaluation of the transaction, wherein the persona is linked to a unique identifier that is at least partly based on at least one of a user's UDID, MAC address, SIM data, IP address, or IMEI as the device-identifier data; and the user's network-participation data.

9 . The system of claim 1 wherein the circuitry for selecting a persona at least partly based on an evaluation of the transaction, wherein the persona is linked to a unique identifier that is at least partly based on a user's device-identifier data and the user's network-participation data comprises:

circuitry for selecting a persona at least partly based on an evaluation of the transaction, wherein the persona is linked to a unique identifier that is at least partly based on a user's device-identifier data and at least one of Facebook information, Twitter information, or gmail information as the user's network-participation data.

10 . The system of claim 1 wherein the circuitry for selecting a persona at least partly based on an evaluation of the transaction, wherein the persona is linked to a unique identifier that is at least partly based on a user's device-identifier data and the user's network-participation data comprises:

circuitry for selecting a persona at least partly based on an evaluation of the transaction, wherein the persona is linked to a unique identifier that is at least partly based on a user's device-identifier data and the user's network-participation data, and wherein the custodian of the persona is a telecommunications carrier.

11 . The system of claim 1 wherein the circuitry for selecting a persona at least partly based on an evaluation of the transaction, wherein the persona is linked to a unique identifier that is at least partly based on a user's device-identifier data and the user's network-participation data comprises:

circuitry for selecting a persona at least partly based on an evaluation of the transaction, wherein the persona is linked to a unique identifier that is at least partly based on a user's device-identifier data and the user's network-participation data, and wherein the custodian of the persona is a trusted personal information management service.

12 . The system of claim 1 wherein the circuitry for selecting a persona at least partly based on an evaluation of the transaction, wherein the persona is linked to a unique identifier that is at least partly based on a user's device-identifier data and the user's network-participation data comprises:

circuitry for selecting a persona at least partly based on an evaluation of the transaction, wherein the persona is linked to a unique identifier that is at least partly based on a user's device-identifier data and the user's network-participation data, and wherein the persona alone provides security for completion of the transaction.

13 . The system of claim 1 wherein the circuitry for selecting a persona at least partly based on an evaluation of the transaction, wherein the persona is linked to a unique identifier that is at least partly based on a user's device-identifier data and the user's network-participation data comprises:

circuitry for selecting a persona at least partly based on an evaluation of the transaction, wherein the persona is linked to a unique identifier that is at least partly based on a user's device-identifier data and the user's network-participation data, and wherein the persona allows for substantially anonymous completion of the transaction.

14 . The system of claim 1 wherein the circuitry for presenting the persona in response to the request for personal information comprises:

circuitry for presenting the persona in response to the request for personal information, wherein the authenticity of the persona is vouched for by at least one of a telecommunications carrier, a bank, or a trusted personal information management service.

15 . A computer program product comprising:

at least one of a machine, a composition of matter, or an article of manufacture including a signal-bearing medium bearing

(1) one or more instructions for accepting at least one request for personal information from a party to a transaction;

(2) one or more instructions for evaluating the transaction;

(3) one or more instructions for selecting a persona at least partly based on an evaluation of the transaction, wherein the persona is linked to a unique identifier that is at least partly based on a user's device-identifier data and the user's network-participation data; and

(4) presenting the persona in response to the request for personal information.

16 . The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the signal-bearing medium includes a computer-readable medium.

17 . The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the signal-bearing medium includes a recordable medium.

18 . The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the signal-bearing medium includes a communications medium.

19 . A system comprising:

a computing device; and instructions that when executed on the computing device cause the computing device to

(1) accept at least one request for personal information from a party to a transaction;

(2) evaluate the transaction;

(3) select a persona at least partly based on an evaluation of the transaction, wherein the persona is linked to a unique identifier that is at least partly based on a user's device-identifier data and the user's network-participation data; and

(4) present the persona in response to the request for personal information.

20 . The system of claim 19 wherein the computing device comprises:

one or more of a personal digital assistant (PDA), a personal entertainment device, a mobile phone, a laptop computer, a tablet personal computer, a networked computer, a computing system comprised of a cluster of processors, a computing system comprised of a cluster of servers, a workstation computer, and/or a desktop computer.

21 . A computer-implemented method comprising:

accepting at least one request for personal information from a party to a transaction;

evaluating the transaction;

selecting a persona at least partly based on an evaluation of the transaction, wherein the persona is linked to a unique identifier that is at least partly based on a user's device-identifier data and the user's network-participation data; and

presenting the persona in response to the request for personal information.

22 . The computer-implemented method of claim 21 wherein the accepting at least one request for personal information from a party to a transaction comprises:

accepting a plurality of fields on a web page as the at least one request for personal information.

23 . The computer-implemented method of claim 21 wherein the accepting at least one request for personal information from a party to a transaction comprises:

accepting at least one request for personal information from a vendor in an online transaction.

24 . The computer-implemented method of claim 21 wherein the accepting at least one request for personal information from a party to a transaction comprises:

accepting a request for personal information consisting of name, email address, birthdate, and credit card information from a vendor in an online transaction.

25 . The computer-implemented method of claim 21 wherein the evaluating the transaction comprises:

evaluating a monetary value for the transaction.

26 . The computer-implemented method of claim 21 wherein the evaluating the transaction comprises:

evaluating the party to the transaction.

27 . The computer-implemented method of claim 26 wherein the evaluating the party to the transaction comprises:

evaluating transaction history about the party to the transaction.

28 . The computer-implemented method of claim 21 wherein the selecting a persona at least partly based on an evaluation of the transaction, wherein the persona is linked to a unique identifier that is at least partly based on a user's device-identifier data and the user's network-participation data comprises:

selecting a persona at least partly based on an evaluation of the transaction, wherein the persona is linked to a unique identifier that is at least partly based on at least one of a user's UDID, MAC address, SIM data, IP address, or IMEI as the device-identifier data; and the user's network-participation data.

29 . The computer-implemented method of claim 21 wherein the selecting a persona at least partly based on an evaluation of the transaction, wherein the persona is linked to a unique identifier that is at least partly based on a user's device-identifier data and the user's network-participation data comprises:

selecting a persona at least partly based on an evaluation of the transaction, wherein the persona is linked to a unique identifier that is at least partly based on a user's device-identifier data and at least one of Facebook information, Twitter information, or gmail information as the user's network-participation data.

30 . The computer-implemented method of claim 21 wherein the selecting a persona at least partly based on an evaluation of the transaction, wherein the persona is linked to a unique identifier that is at least partly based on a user's device-identifier data and the user's network-participation data comprises:

selecting a persona at least partly based on an evaluation of the transaction, wherein the persona is linked to a unique identifier that is at least partly based on a user's device-identifier data and the user's network-participation data, and wherein the custodian of the persona is a telecommunications carrier.

31 . The computer-implemented method of claim 21 wherein the selecting a persona at least partly based on an evaluation of the transaction, wherein the persona is linked to a unique identifier that is at least partly based on a user's device-identifier data and the user's network-participation data comprises:

selecting a persona at least partly based on an evaluation of the transaction, wherein the persona is linked to a unique identifier that is at least partly based on a user's device-identifier data and the user's network-participation data, and wherein the custodian of the persona is a trusted personal information management service.

32 . The computer-implemented method of claim 21 wherein the selecting a persona at least partly based on an evaluation of the transaction, wherein the persona is linked to a unique identifier that is at least partly based on a user's device-identifier data and the user's network-participation data comprises:

selecting a persona at least partly based on an evaluation of the transaction, wherein the persona is linked to a unique identifier that is at least partly based on a user's device-identifier data and the user's network-participation data, and wherein the persona alone provides security for completion of the transaction.

33 . The computer-implemented method of claim 21 , wherein the selecting a persona at least partly based on an evaluation of the transaction, wherein the persona is linked to a unique identifier that is at least partly based on a user's device-identifier data and the user's network-participation data comprises:

selecting a persona at least partly based on an evaluation of the transaction, wherein the persona is linked to a unique identifier that is at least partly based on a user's device-identifier data and the user's network-participation data, and wherein the persona allows for substantially anonymous completion of the transaction.

34 . The computer-implemented method of claim 21 wherein the presenting the persona in response to the request for personal information comprises:

presenting the persona in response to the request for personal information, wherein the authenticity of the persona is vouched for by at least one of a telecommunications carrier, a bank, or a trusted personal information management service.