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A system and method for providing a secured information vault so that individual owners of personal data may control and manage the access and dissemination of the personal data. The system and method provides for the owner of the personal data to receive compensation for the use of the personal dat

A system and method for providing a secured information vault so that individual owners of personal data may control and manage the access and dissemination of the personal data. The system and method provides for the owner of the personal data to receive compensation for the use of the personal data, thus, in effect, the personal data becomes a valuable commodity analogous to money. Centralized protected storage of personal data is provided, which minimizes the number of copies that may be in existence. The personal data may be converted from one format to another by subscribing to format conversion services provide by the vault. The vault regularly updates stored personal data per the subscribed services so that the personal data is available in the latest data formats used by various industries. A fee may be charged for format conversions.

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1. A method of converting data item formats, comprising: placing a new data format in a conversion database, the new data format previously not included in the conversion database;adding, by a processor, one or more conversion rules to the conversion database, wherein each of the one or more convers

1. A method of converting data item formats, comprising: placing a new data format in a conversion database, the new data format previously not included in the conversion database;adding, by a processor, one or more conversion rules to the conversion database, wherein each of the one or more conversion rules specifies a from-format, a to-format, and a conversion routine for converting data items from the from-format to the to-format, andwherein the adding is performed asynchronously;creating, by the processor, at least one conversion subscription in the conversion database, wherein the creating is performed asynchronously, andwherein the at least one conversion subscription encompasses conversions performed using the one or more added conversion rules;determining, by the processor, the placement of the new data format in the conversion database and the addition of the one or more conversion rules including the new data format;based on the determination of the placement of the new data format in the conversion database and the addition of the one or more conversion rules including the new data format, performing, by the processor, a conversion scan for each of the conversion subscriptions;wherein the conversion scan is performed asynchronously, andwherein the conversion scan includes: querying, by the processor, an information index for the one or more data items having a from-format matching a from-format type of one or more conversion rules,determining, by the processor, that an identifier of the one or more data items matches an identifier of an owner of the one or more conversion subscriptions; andconverting, based on the determination, the one or more data items to the to-format associated with the new data format as specified in the one or more conversion rules such that at least one of the one or more data items is maintained in the new data format;storing, by the processor, the one or more converted data items in the information index; andupdating, by the processor, the information index with parameters of the one or more converted data items. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the converting step further matches a conversion subscription specifying the one or more conversion rules. 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising canceling at least one of the conversion subscriptions. 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising charging a fee for the creating or converting steps. 5. The method of claim 1, wherein converting the one or more data items further comprises: determining, by the processor, the availability of a new format conversion routine; andbased on the determination of the availability of the new format conversion routine, converting the one or more data items. 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising renewing the conversion subscription and updating an existing stored conversion subscription in a secured vault. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the renewing includes charging a fee. 8. The method of claim 6, further comprising updating the secured vault with at least one of the one or more the converted data items. 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the conversion subscription includes a time duration of the conversion subscription. 10. The method of claim 1, further comprising: adding an association to the one or more converted data items. 11. A method of converting formats, comprising: placing at least one new data format in a conversion database;creating, by a processor, one or more conversion subscription accounts in a secured vault specifying at least one data item to maintain in the at least one new data format, the secured vault located remotely from a user computer system;adding, by the processor, one or more conversion rules to the secured vault, each of the one or more conversion rules specifying a from-format, a to-format associated with the at least one new format, and a conversion routine; and determining, by the processor, the placement of the new data format in the conversion database and the addition of the one or more conversion rules including the new data format;based on the determination of the placement of the new data format in the conversion database and the addition of the one or more conversion rules including the new data format, performing, by the processor, a conversion scan for each of the conversion subscriptions, the conversion scan comprising:querying the conversion database for the at least one data item having the from-format matching one or more data conversion descriptions from-format type and having an identifier matching an owner of the one or more conversion subscription accounts;for each positive matching result of the querying, converting the at least one data item to the to-format as specified in the matching each one or more data conversion descriptions;converting at least one of the data items to the at least one new data format using the conversion routine specified in the one or more conversion rules such that the at least one of the one or more data items is maintained in the at least one new data format; andupdating an information index with parameters of the converted data items. 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the converting is performed automatically by scanning for a match between a conversion rule from-format to the to-format of the one or more data items. 13. The method of claim 11, wherein the converting step further matches a conversion subscription account specifying the one or more conversion rules. 14. The method of claim 11, further comprising updating the secured vault with at least one of the one or more the converted data items. 15. The method of claim 11, further comprising canceling at least one of the one or more conversion subscription accounts. 16. The method of claim 11, further comprising charging a fee for the creating or converting steps. 17. The method of claim 11, wherein the conversion subscription includes a time duration of the conversion subscription. 18. The method of claim 11, further comprising: adding an association to the one or more converted data items. 19. An apparatus, comprising: one or more processors; andone or more non-transitory computer readable mediums for storing program instructions used by the one or more processors, wherein the program instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the steps of:placing a new data format in a conversion database, the new data format previously not included in the conversion database;adding one or more conversion rules to the conversion database, wherein each of the one or more conversion rules specifies a from-format, a to-format, and a conversion routine for converting data items from the from-format to the to-format, andwherein the adding is performed asynchronously;creating at least one conversion subscription in the conversion database, wherein the creating is performed asynchronously, andwherein the at least one conversion subscription encompasses conversions performed using the one or more added conversion rules;determining the placement of the new data format in the conversion database and the addition of the one or more conversion rules including the new data format;based on the determination of the placement of the new data format in the conversion database and the addition of the one or more conversion rules including the new data format, performing, by the processor, a conversion scan for each of the conversion subscriptions;wherein the conversion scan is performed asynchronously, andwherein the conversion scan includes: querying an information index for the one or more data items having a from-format matching a from-format type of one or more conversion rules,determining that an identifier of the one or more data items matches an identifier of an owner of the one or more conversion subscriptions; andconverting, based on the determination, the one or more data items to the to-format associated with the new data format as specified in the one or more conversion rules such that at least one of the one or more data items is maintained in the new data format;storing the one or more converted data items in the information index; andupdating the information index with parameters of the one or more converted data items. 20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to perform the step of: canceling at least one of the one or more conversion subscription accounts.