APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR ELECTRONIC TRANSACTION EVIDENCE ARCHIVAL AND RETRIEVAL

An electronic transaction evidence archive apparatus and method archives electronic transaction evidence, such as public key based electronic transaction evidence on behalf of a first party. The apparatus and method determines redundant electronic transaction evidence and removes the redundant electronic transaction evidence prior to archival. In one embodiment, the electronic transaction evidence archive apparatus and method indexes received electronic transaction evidence and archives the indexed data elements thereof. When a subsequent archival request is made, the apparatus and method evaluates the index data to determine redundant electronic transaction evidence and discards redundant information to save memory resources. The first party provides the electronic transaction evidence in, for example, an archive evidence bundle, which includes data elements related to a single transaction.