Data processing apparatus and methods

A system and method are disclosed for storing, processing and retrieving information. A data store, a data recipient and a data processing machine are provided, the data store and the data recipient both being connectable to each other and to the data processing machine via a potentially insecure communications network, and the data store being adapted to selectively provide information to the data processing machine and to the data recipient on receipt of one or more suitable instructions from the data processing machine, and the data processing machine being adapted to provide instructions to the data store based on a set of pre-determined rules, so that information is provided by the data store to the data recipient only when pre-determined conditions are met. Also disclosed is a data processing system comprising a processor and a data store, the processor being adapted to convert information into a pre-determined form for storage in the data store, wherein the processor is further adapted to categorise said information according to its content according to a set of pre-determined rules, and subsequently retrieve information from the data store, the data store comprising a data surface and a file storage means, wherein the data surface comprises a description of information stored in files in the file storage means.