US Patent 7805415 Systems and methods for sharing data between entities

The present invention is generally directed to methods and apparatus for sharing data. A system maintains the integrity of the data by controlling access to and from the data. For example, one entity may wish to cooperate with another entity by sharing information with the other entity. The sharing entity may, however, wish to block access to certain portions of the data. The system, therefore, includes a processor configured for processing stored rules that, when processed, control transfer of the data to the other entity. The processor maintains integrity of the data because, among other reasons, the processor can determine that certain portions of the data to be transferred should be excluded from an intended recipient based upon a processed rule. Examples of such data sanitization include the deletion of information regarding the data owner, the data provider and/or other entity specific sensitive portions of the data.