Method and apparatus for providing non-repudiation of transaction information that includes mark up language data

Abstract

An apparatus and method provides non-repudiation of transaction information such as mark up language forms, using a non-proxy cryptographic application, such as an applet, that provides information to and from the Web browser. Once a user fills out a mark up language-based form as provided, for example, through a Web browser and selects a 'submit' button, the non-proxy cryptographic application sends the completed form to a server or the receiving unit that provided the incomplete form and waits for the server to present confirmation data such as a confirmation request form. In one embodiment, once a confirmation request form is received, the non-proxy cryptographic application temporarily maintains the confirmation request form, namely a representation of the completed form as provided by the server, in temporary (e.g., volatile) memory, such as RAM. The non-proxy cryptographic application then sends a copy of the temporarily maintained confirmation request form to the Web browser for display to a user. If the user accepts the copy of the confirmation request form, it is signed and sent back to the server where it is compared with a stored copy to insure that no tampering of the accepted form occurred.