Universal directory service

A directory system, for use with a communication network and in which a network presence is provided for an entity having attributes, stores the attributes and responds to queries. The attributes may have associated authenticity information. The attributes may have a hierarchical relationship, and the queries include information dependent on this hierarchical relationship. When the query includes attributes, the directory system provides identifying information for the entity and automatically transfers the identifying information to a vendor service. When the attributes have associated security information, the directory service responds to queries with only attribute information associated with a public security indication.