WO2005101241A2

WO2005101241A2 - Method for depositing and retrieving digital records

Info

Publication number: WO2005101241A2
Application number: PCT/IL2005/000386
Authority: WO
Inventors: Alon Tavori; Yaron Greenhut; Yona Katz
Original assignee: Alon Tavori; Yaron Greenhut; Yona Katz
Priority date: 2004-04-13
Filing date: 2005-04-12
Publication date: 2005-10-27
Also published as: WO2005101241A3

Abstract

A novel service provides a facility for depositing data indicative of at least one digital record such as a digital image belonging to a user, by receiving data representative of the digital record, depositing the received data in a deposit storage device coupled to a deposit station. The received data is deposited in association with identification data. The deposit station is coupled to an information center so as to permit redirection of the deposited data to a retrieval station that is remote from the deposit station.

Description

Method for depositing and retrieving digital records

FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to data security and archiving, particularly to the secure archiving of digital records such as images.

BACKGROUND OF THE INDENTION When a traveler travels on a trip, for example during a vacation, he can take a camera with him in order to perpetuate memories and events taking place during the trip. Today the use of digital still cameras is becoming increasingly popular; however, the traveler can also take a regular film camera, and/or an analog or digital video camera. Hereinafter, the description refers to digital images. However, this is not limiting and a person having average knowledge in the art will appreciate that unless specifically noted, the description applies also to other digital media allowing perpetuation. After taking a certain number of images, the traveler can reach his storage limits. For example, digital cameras are commonly sold with a memory card having limited storage capacity such as 16 MB or 32 MB. After shooting a fairly small number of images (depending on pixel resolution) the card's memory becomes full, and in order to continue shooting the traveler is required to delete at least part of the images previously shot, in order to free memory space thereby. A different solution for overcoming storage limits can be purchasing additional storage medium, such as additional memory cards. However, memory cards can be expensive, particularly those having sufficient capacity to store several hundred images, and even if they are not expensive, memory cards are susceptible to damage that can be caused by different causes during the trip. Susceptibility to damage exists also when other types of media are considered such as films, video cassettes etc. It is known in the art that a traveler equipped with a mobile computer (such as a laptop), can copy the images to it from the memory card, or alternatively he can have access to any other computer allowing copying and storage of the images on other media such as a compact disc (CD), digital video disc (DND), disk on key etc. But in this case, as before, the storage media is susceptible to damage, to say nothing of the need to carry the media around with, the traveler or to send it via mail. Yet another consideration relates to the security of the images. If a memory card becomes damaged or lost, all the images stored thereon are lost forever. Many photographs taken on vacation are of great value to the photographer and irreplaceable. Even those that might be considered replaceable, suchi as tourist sites that do not vary from one visit to another, are often irreplaceable: particularly when they are of exotic or faraway places that may be visited only once in a lifetime. It would be clearly of benefit to travelers if they could rest assured that their precious images remain intact; and that even in the event of^* loss of or damage to the memory card, the images stored thereon would remain, accessible.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a service for allowing travelers to rest assured that their precious data remains intact; and that even in the event of loss of or damage to a memory card or other data carrier serving as a. storage for such data, the data stored thereon remain accessible. In accordance with a first aspect of the invention, this object is realized by a method for depositing data indicative of at least one digital record belonging to a user, the method comprising: (a) receiving data representative of the at least one digital record; and (b) depositing said data in association with identification data at a deposit station that is local to said user when the data is deposited, said- deposit station being couplable to an information center so as to permit redirection of said data via the information center to a retrieval station remote from said deposit station. According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a method for allowing a user to access digital records deposited by said user at a retrieval station, the method comprising: (a) determining identification data; (b) verifying if data indicative of at least one digital record associated with said identification data is deposited in at least one deposit storage device remote from said retrieval station, and if so (c) redirecting said data from each of said deposit storage devices to said retrieval station so as to permit said iiser to access said data. According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided a method for managing deposition of data indicative of digital records belonging to a user, the method comprising: (a) receiving from at least one deposit station visited by said user respective deposition data indicative of the data deposited by said user at each of said deposit stations during a respective visit thereto; and storing said deposition data so as to permit redirection of said data to a retrieval station for access by said user. According to a fourth aspect of the invention there is provided a method for managing retrieval of data indicative of digital records belonging to a user, the method.comprising: (a) retrieving deposition data, said deposition data being indicative of the data deposited by said user at deposit stations visited by said user; and (b) redirecting said deposition data to a retrieval station. According to a fifth aspect of the invention there is provided a method for allowing data indicative of at least one digital record belonging to a user to be deposited at one station and redirected to another station, the method comprising: (c) providing a network of deposit stations and retrieval stations; (d) receiving said at least one digital record deposited by the user at one of said deposit stations that is local to said user when the data is deposited and storing said at least one digital record in association with identification data; and (c) receiving a redirection command including said identification data and an identification of at least one digital record to be redirected and redirecting said at least one digital record to one of said retrieval stations. According to a sixth aspect of the invention there is provided a deposit station for depositing data indicative of at least one digital record belonging to a user, the deposit station comprising: a data receiver for receiving data representative of the at least one digital record; and a deposit storage device for depositing said data in association

identification data, said deposit storage device being associated with said deposit station and being couplable to an information center so as to permit redirection of said data via the information center to a retrieval station. According to a seventh aspect of the invention there is provided a retrieval station for • accessing digital records belonging to a user, the retrieval station comprising: an identification unit for determining identification data; a record locator for verifying if data indicative of at least one digital record associated with said identification data is deposited in at least one deposit storage device remote from said retrieval location; and a data redirector coupled to said record locator for redirecting said data from each of said deposit storage devices to a retrieval station so as to permit said user to access said data. According to a eighth aspect of the invention there is provided an information center for managing deposition of data indicative of digital records belonging to a user, the information center comprising: a data receiver for receiving from at least one deposit station visited by said user respective deposition data indicative of said data deposited by said user at each of said deposit stations during a respective visit thereto; and a central storage device for storing said deposition data received in said data receiver, said deposition data is stored in association with identification data so as to permit redirection of said data to a retrieval station for accessing by said user. According to a ninth aspect of the invention there is provided an information center for managing retrieval of data indicative of digital records belonging to a user, the information center comprising: a data receiver for receiving identification data; a deposition data retriever for retrieving deposition data associated with said identification data, said deposition data being indicative of said data deposited by said user at deposit locations visited by said user; and a data redirection unit coupled to said deposition data retriever for redirecting (603) said deposition data to a retrieval station.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In order to understand the invention and to see how it may be carried out in practice, a preferred embodiment will now be described, by way of non- limiting example only, with regard to deposition of digital data relating to digital images and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a deposition and retrieval system for depositing and retrieving data indicative of digital images, according to an embodiment of the invention.; Fig. 2 is a flowchart showing the principal operations carried out by a method for allowing users to access the deposition and retrieval system, according to one embodiment of the invention; Fig. 3A is a flowchart describing the principal operations carried out by a method for depositing image data belonging to a user in a deposit station, according to one embodiment of the invention; Fig. 3B is a flowchart describing in detail a method for depositing image data belonging to a user in a deposit station, according to one embodiment of the invention; and Fig. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the principal operations carried out by a method for providing identification data according to one embodiment of the invention; ^< Fig. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the principal operations carried out by the information center for managing deposition of image data belonging to a user, according to one embodiment of the invention; and Fig. 6 is a flowchart illustrating the principal operations carried out by an information center for management of retrieval of deposition data belonging to a user, according to one embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS In the following description, the location of origin, where the traveler stays while not traveling, will be referred to as the "base location" of the traveler. According to the described embodiments below, a traveler can subscribe to a service allowing deposition and retrieval of digital image data, whereby the traveler becomes a registered user of such service. When staying at or passing through a remote location, the user deposits image data indicative of digital images in the remote location, for subsequent retrieval at the base location. It should be noted that the terms "remote" and "base" locations are non-limiting, and a traveler can retrieve images from locations different then his base location. Therefore, a location from where the traveler retrieves images is referred to, hereinafter, as a "retrieval location", while the location where the traveler deposits his images is referred to, hereinafter, as a "deposit location". For example, consider a person who lives in the USA and travels to Peru for a holiday, where he deposits image data. The traveler then continues to Mexico, where he decides to stay for a certain prolonged period, and wants to retrieve the image data that he deposited in Peru. In this case, the USA is the base location, Peru is a deposit location and Mexico is a retrieval location. Of course, it will be appreciated that these locations may be in the same country, such as different states in the USA or different cities in the same state or even different parts of the same city. Fig. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a deposition and retrieval system 101 for depositing and retrieving data indicative of digital images, according to an embodiment of the invention. The system 101 encompasses plurality of deposit stations 102, where users can deposit image data. The deposit stations 102 are coupled to an information center 103, where deposition data indicative of stored image data and identification data indicative of users is stored. Those versed in the art will appreciate that the information center can include redundant systems for backup and high availability, and that the information center 103 can be a distributed information center, comprising several information centers distributed worldwide, for example, as applicable to the case. Also connected to the information center 103 are retrieval stations 104, from where the user can retrieve image data deposited in the system. It should be noted that there is no correspondence between the number of retrieval stations 104 and the number of deposit stations 102 in the system 101. It should also be noted that a deposit station 102 can sometimes be used as a retrieval station 104 One or more deposit storage devices 105 may also be coupled to the deposit stations 102. According to one embodiment as shown in Fig. 1, a single deposit storage device 105 is coupled to each deposit station 102. According to a different embodiment (not illustrated in Fig. 1) a single deposit storage device 105 may be coupled to several deposit stations 102. Optionally, a central storage device 106 may also be coupled to the information center 103 and may be realized by a single unit or by a distributed memory as applicable. The central storage device 106 can also be used as a deposit storage device 105 of some deposit stations 102 for storing deposited image data. The retrieval stations 104 can also be coupled to retrieval storage devices 107, which can be local to the retrieval station 104 or distant therefrom, as long as there is some sort of communication between the two, such as the Internet, serial communication, Local Area Network (LAN), communication etc. It should be noted that the storage devices 105, 106 and 107 can be local to the deposit stations 102, the information center 103 and the retrieval stations 104 respectively. They can be realized by a hard disk or a Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID), or by compact disks (CDs) or digital video disks (DNDs) that are created by suitable writing units coupled to the deposit stations 102, the information center 103 or the retrieval stations 104. They can also be networked storage devices, coupled by communication means such as network file systems, NFS, or web servers connected by wide bandwidth communication lines or an other applicable storage devices or even a combination thereof. Fig. 2 is a flowchart showing the principal operations carried out by a method for allowing users to access the deposition and retrieval system 101. According to the described embodiment, a user is identified and his identity is authenticated using any method known in the art. For example, a login procedure can be app ed, in which the user types a user-name and password. Alternatively, a magnetic card can be used (such as the user's credit card) for identification, or any other technique can be applied as well. Whatever identification and/or authentication method is used, the deposit station where the user is located redirects access data to the information center 103 coupled thereto, where access data, identification data and authentication data of users are stored, in order to find out if the user is a registered user who is authorized to deposit images, and if so, to provide identification data for that user, such as a user ID, or any other identification data applicable. If the user is authorized to deposit images the identification data is redirected to the deposit station 102 or to the retrieval station, otherwise an appropriate error code can be redirected. Therefore, after redirecting (201) access data to the information center, the deposit or retrieval station receives (203) the identification data from the information center if the user is authorized thereby. It should be noted that the identification data may be the same as or different from the identification provided by the user while identifying himself. If it is found (on 202) that the person is not authorized to deposit or access deposited images, an appropriate message indicating the situation can be issued (204) at the deposit station 102, in accordance with which the user can take action as required in order to use the service. Thereafter, the access procedure is terminated. For example, if the error code indicates that the user's identity is unrecognized or invalid, possibly owing to the user's membership having expired or the user's account having insufficient credit, the error message issued at 204 can be "unknown user; please register to the service by clicking the REGISTER button". The user may click the "REGISTER" button to receive a registration form, where he can provide details including, for example, credit card information, and possibly even an amount of money to serve as a usage quota, or credit, as known to persons skilled in the art. After registering, the user becomes a registered user, his identification data is listed at the information center, and he can re-access the service for depositing his image data therewith. Thus, according to this example, registration to the service is not required before leaving the base location. It should be noted that the described embodiment is not limiting, and other embodiments are allowed as well. For example, the user does not have to subscribe tb the deposition and retrieval service provided by the system 101. During identification and authentication (201) at a deposit station (102) the user can provide on-line payment by any suitable means, such as credit card or even cash. According to this example, instead of user identity, the access data can include the amount paid by the user. This amount is compared with a certain minimal threshold, for example. If the amount is found to be insufficient an appropriate error code is redirected. Otherwise the user receives a transaction ID, identifying ,one or more images he can deposit during the transaction. According to this example the transaction ID is used as identification data. Alternatively, the user does not have to pay at the deposit station. When accessing a deposit station the user receives a transaction ID, identifying one or more images he can deposit. When accessing data deposited at a deposit station 102 the user types the transaction ID received while the data was deposited, together with payment required to retrieve the data. Here too payment can be done by any known means, such as credit card, cash, Internet payment service etc. It will be appreciated that a combination of the examples described above is also allowed. Thus, the deposition and retrieval system 101 may provide subscription service, together with the option of paying per-deposit or paying- per-retrieval option. One user can subscribe to the service, while others can choose to pay per transaction. Fig. 3A is a flowchart describing the principal operations carried out by a method for depositing image data belonging to a user in a deposit station, according to one embodiment of the invention. After receiving valid identification data (203, see also Fig. 2), the user is allowed to deposit image data in a deposit storage device 105 located at or associated with the deposit location. As was previously illustrated, valid identification data can include user identification data or transaction data, according to the embodiment. After receiving (3A01) image data from the user, the image data is stored (3A02) in the deposit storage device. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that deposition in the deposit storage device can be done using an intermediate buffer such as a buffer in memory as illustrated in Fig. 3B. An intermediate buffer having a predetermined capacity is allocated (3B01) and partial image data is transferred thereby for storage in the deposit storage device after which the buffer is cleared, and the process repeated as required until all the required image data is stored. The user may then erase the stored images from his memory card, thus freeing memory for more photographs. After storing image data (3B02) in a deposit storage device, or after it is found (3B03) that there are no more portions of data to deposit, deposition data is conveyed (3B04) to the information center. The deposition data is indicative of the deposited image data, such as the identity of the deposit storage device and the identity- of files including the deposited image data. In some embodiments the deposition data can include also additional data such as user identification data and/or transaction identification data etc. It should be noted that the deposition data can identify the deposited data. However, this is non-limiting and other ways are applicable as well to indicate the deposited data, such as HTML links, Java applets that can access and download the deposited data etc. According to other embodiments, instead of, or in addition to, depositing image data in the deposit storage device, the user can opt to store the image data on a portable storage device such as a CD or to print images represented b^y the image data on a printer that can be coupled to the deposit station. In order to allow subsequent retrieval of image data by users from their respective retrieval stations 104, the information center 103 manages identification data and deposition data. Fig. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the principal operations carried out by a method for providing identification data, according to one embodiment of the invention. After a user identifies himself or pays a certain amount in cash at a deposit station 102, as described before with reference to Fig. 2, the information center 103 receives (401) access data from the deposit station. It is appreciated that the access data can be data indicative of the user's identity (such as a user name or email address), it can be the user's credit card number, an amount of money paid in cash or any other access data applicable in the system. If the access data is indicative of a user's identity (402) the system identifies that requested service is a subscription service, where the user is expected to be a subscriber. Therefore, if (403) the user is not listed as a subscriber_^ the information center notifies that to the deposit station and access is rejected- If the user is listed as a subscriber the information center checks (404) if the subscriber's credit in the system is sufficient to allow deposition of image data. It should be noted that some subscribers can have unlimited credit for deposition of image data. If the credit is insufficient, access is rejected with or without a "low credit" indication, otherwise, the information center accesses (405) the subscriber's identification data stored in the central storage device, and conveys (406) this identification data to the deposit station. If the access data is not indicative of a user, the system checks if it is indicative of a credit card (407) and if so, continues checking (408) that the credit card is valid, such as by asking authorization from the credit card company. Then the system generates (409) a transaction identification data to be used as identification data and conveys (406) this identification data to the deposit station. However, if the access data is not indicative of a user or a credit card, it can still indicate (410) an amount paid in cash by the user in the deposit station. If so, the information center checks if the amount paid exceeds (411) a predetermined cash threshold and if so it generates (409) a transaction identification data to be used as identification data and conveys (40€>) this identification data to the deposit station. Fig. =5 is a flowchart illustrating the principal operations carried out by the information center 103 for managing deposition of image data belonging to a user, according to one embodiment of the invention. Upon receiving (501) deposition data it is stored (502) in the central storage device 106. In those embodiments where the identification data is not included as part of the deposition data, the identification data is received together with the deposition data and it is stored in association therewith. Storing can be done for example, by storing the deposition data and the identification data in a database as known to those having skills in the field. Later this deposition data can be retrieved and used to permit redirection of the image data to a base station 104. It should also be noted that a user can deposit image data at more than one deposit station. In such case, the image data of the user can be distributed among several deposit storage devices 105, this being indicated by the deposition data stored in the information center in accordance with the described exiemplary embodiment. It is also important to note that in some embodiments the deposition data can include the image data. In such embodiments, therefore, there will be stored directly in the central storage device the image data itself rattier than addresses of deposit storage devices where the image data is stored. Such an embodiment allows the data to be copied directly from the memory card to the central storage device 106, thereby rendering the deposit storage devices unnecessary. Fig. 6 is a flowchart illustrating the principal operations carried o^~ut by an information center 103 for management of retrieval of deposition data belonging to a user, according to an embodiment of the invention. Upon receiving (601) identification data indicative of a user or of a transaction, the information center retrieves the appropriate (602) deposition data stored in the central storage device 106. The information center then redirects (603) the retrieved deposition information to the retrieval station. It should be noted, however, that; if the deposition data includes image data, the image data is redirected to the retrieval station by conveying the deposition data to the retrieval station and no further redirection being required. It should be noted that other embodiments are allowed as well, such as pushing image data to the retrieval stations using push technology known to those verse'd in the art. If the identity of the retrieval station is known to the information center, it can redirect image data to the retrieval station off-line, without receiving an implicit redirection command from the user. This xvay, for example, the information center can take advantage of available bandwidth when the service is not loaded, while the user can enjoy the benefit of having his images waiting for him when he gets to his base location, for example. When deposition data is received by an information center in accordance with such an embodiment, a redirection command respective of this deposition data can be automatically inserted into a redirection queue. Wh-en the information center detects that bandwidth is available for pushing image data, a redirection command is popped out of the redirection queue, and the respective image data can be redirected to a retrieval station accordingly. It will be appreciated that a user can indicate while depositing image data, to which retrieval station he would like to redirect this data. The information center can store the identity of the retrieval station together with the redirection command. Alternatively, if the user is a subscriber, he can indicate that all or part of his deposited image data should be redirected to a certain retrieval station, and this information can be stored in the information center. This stored information can be used by the information center together with the queued redirection command while redirecting the image data of the user. Thus, the invention allows a traveler to store digital images during his travels, thus permitting memory in a memory card of the traveler's digital camera to be erased for accommodating new images, and thus obviating the need to purchase expensive additional and/or higher capacity memory cards. The invention also provides a greater measure of security to the traveler since, once digital images have been thus stored for subsequent downloading, the traveler is assured of their accessibility and integrity even in the even of subsequentxlamage or loss to the memory card. It should be noted that in an embodiment of the invention it is possible to provide insurance services to the traveler. When depositing his image data, the traveler can indicate that he is interested that his image data will be insured. When insured data is deposited, the deposition and retrieval system 101 can, for example, create a backup copy of the data, providing better security thereof. In this case the user can be charged extra money for the insurance service. A business model for use with the invention allows the information center 103 to charge travelers for registering with the service and/or to charge for depositing digital images for subsequent transfer from a deposit location to a retrieval location and/or charge for retrieval of digital images. Although the retrieval location is typically near a traveler's home, this is not mandatory and the traveler can opt to download images during his or her travels and optionally delete them from the deposit storage device. The manner in which the traveler is charged for the service may be as a function of used memory capacity and duration of storage. According to another business model, the traveler may be charged for each access to the system, be it from a deposit station or from a retrieval station. It will be appreciated that modifications may be made to the described embodiments without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims. For example, while various embodiments have been described with regard to the temporary storage of digital image data by an itinerant traveler, it will be understood that the stored data need not be representative of digital images and, of course, the user need not be a tourist. For example, the digital data can be representative of sound or video images or any format of binary or text files, i.e., the stored data can be any digital record; and the traveler can be a business person, a tourist or any other person who has the need to acquire a high volume of digital data during his or her travels and wishes to off-load it en route in a manner that permits access thereto at a more convenient time or location. Moreover, although use of the invention has been described with regard to a single person depositing data, it will be understood that such a user may also be a group of individuals sharing a corporate identity, for example a company. Thus, for example, one member of such a group can deposit data, wtiile a different member of ^'the group can retrieve the data. According to a different embodiment a person can deposit images in the system, and provide the transaction identification data to a printing service for retrieving the images and printing them. It will also be understood that the invention, contemplates a computer program being readable by a computer for executing the method of the invention. The invention further contemplates a machine-readable memory tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine for executing the method of the invention.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A method for depositing data indicative of at least one digital record belonging to a user, the method comprising: (a) receiving data representative of the at least one digital record; and (b) depositing said data in association with identification data at a deposit station that is local to said user when the data is deposited, said deposit station being couplable to an information center so as to permit redirection of said data via the information center to a retrieval station remote from said deposit station.

2. The method of Claim 1 , further comprising: (c) conveying deposition data indicative of digital records deposited by said user to an information center.

3. The method of Claim 1, wherein the digital records include at least one from the group comprising digital image data, digital sound data and text.

4. A method for allowing a user to access digital records deposited by said user at a retrieval station, the method comprising: (a) determining identification data; (b) verifying if data indicative of at least one digital record associated with said identification data is deposited in at least one deposit storage device remote from said retrieval station, and if so (c) redirecting said data from each of said deposit storage devices to said retrieval station so as to permit said user to access said data.

5. The method of Claim 4, further comprising: (d) storing said data.

6. The method of Claim 5, wherein said storing includes storing on at least one from the group comprising a floppy disk, a compact disk (CD), a digital video disk (DND), a network storage device and a hard drive associated with a retrieval station in said retrieval location..

7. The method of Claim 6, wherein said hard drive is a Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID).

8. The method of Claim 4, wherein the digital records include at least one from the group comprising digital image data, digital sound data and text.

9. A method for managing deposition of data indicative of digital records belonging to a user, the method comprising: (a) receiving from at least one deposit station visited by said user respective deposition data indicative of the data deposited by said user at each of said deposit stations during a respective visit thereto; and (b) storing said deposition data so as to permit redirection of said data to a retrieval station for access by said user.

10. The method of Claim 9, wherein the digital records include at least one from the group comprising digital image data, digital sound data and text.

11. A method for managing retrieval of data indicative of digital records belonging to a user, the method comprising: (a) retrieving deposition data, said deposition data being indicative of the data deposited by said user at deposit stations visited by said user; and (b) redirecting said deposition data to a retrieval station.

12. The method of Claim 11, wherein the digital records include at least one from the group comprising digital image data, digital sound data and text.

13. A method for allowing data indicative of at least one digital record belonging to a user to be deposited at one station and redirected to another station, the method comprising: (a) providing a network of deposit stations and retrieval stations; (b) receiving said at least one digital record deposited by the user at one of said deposit stations that is local to said user when the data is deposited and storing said at least one digital record in association with identification data; and (c) receiving a redirection command including said identification data and an identification of at least one digital record to be redirected and redirecting said at least one digital record to one of said retrieval stations.

14. The method of Claim 13 wherein at least one of said retrieval stations may also serve as a deposit station.

15. The method of Claim 13 wherein at least one of said deposit stations may also serve as a retrieval station.

16. A deposit station for depositing data indicative of at least one digital record belonging to a user, the deposit station comprising: a data receiver for receiving data representative of the at least one digital record; and a deposit storage device for depositing said data in association with identification data, said deposit storage device being associated with said deposit station and being couplable to an information center so as to permit redirection of said data via the information center to a retrieval station.

17. A retrieval station for accessing digital records belonging to a user, the retrieval station comprising: an identification unit for determining identification data; a record locator for verifying if data indicative of at least one digital record associated with said identification data is deposited in at least one deposit storage device remote from said retrieval location; and a data redirector coupled to said record locator for redirecting said data from each of said deposit storage devices to a retrieval station so as to permit said user to access said data.

18. An^" information center for managing deposition of data indicative of digital records belonging to a user, the information center comprising: a data receiver for receiving from at least one deposit station visited by said user respective deposition data indicative of said data deposited by said user at each of said deposit stations during a respective visit thereto; and a central storage device for storing said deposition data received in said data receiver, said deposition data is stored in association with identification data so as to permit redirection of said data to a retrie al station for accessing by said user.

19. An information center for managing retrieval of data indicative of digital records belonging to a user, the information center comprising: a data receiver for receiving identification data; a deposition data retriever for retrieving deposition data associated with said identification data, said deposition data being indicative of said data deposited by said user at deposit locations visited by said user; and a data redirection unit coupled to said deposition data retriever for redirecting said deposition data to a retrieval station.