A computer implemented method of
processing data containing information about relationships between contacts and a
community of contact owners, comprises: collecting data including contact information, contact owner information and one or more values related to strength of a relationship between the contact and the contact owner; evaluating the strength of the relationship based on the one or more values; and storing the collected data and evaluated strength in a
computer database. A method of
keying a
database, comprises: building a
database of records, each containing information about an entity, and each of which include
a domain name field; and setting the
domain name field as a key field; whereby a
record for an entity is found by reference to
a domain name. A method of
keying a
database, comprises: building a database of records, each containing information about an entity, and each of which include an
email address field; and setting the
email address field as a key field; whereby a
record for an entity is found by reference to an
email address. A method of
keying a database, comprising: building a database of records, each containing information about an entity, and each of which includes a field holding an identifier uniquely associated with an entity by a convention of computer networking; and setting the field holding the identifier as a key field; whereby a
record for an entity is found by reference to an identifier. A method of sharing relationship information, comprising: maintaining a database of relationship information records; selecting contact information according to a
selection criterion; and returning selected relationship information also complying with restrictions set in a set of hierarchical privacy policies.