E-commerce which may include delivery of a good ordered or purchased over
a network (e.g., the Internet) to a purchaser/user, and/or arranging for
electronic payment of the good is accomplished while securing private and
personal information of purchasers/users, which may include the user's
identity and address(and those of the user's computer), and financial
information. Proxy software is provided for user computers, one or more
proxy computers, or both, for users to communicate with vendors
anonymously over the network, provide for delivery of an ordered good and
provide for electronic payment, while securing the user's private
information. The proxy software provides for a proxy party to deal with a
vendor and arrange payment from a bank or credit card company to the
vendor based on an account that the proxy party has with the bank. The
proxy party is not required where the purchaser/user is provided with a
transaction identity that masks the true identity of the purchaser.