SECURE TRANSFER AND TRACKING OF DATA USING REMOVABLE NONVOLATILE MEMORY DEVICES

A protected memory source device including removable non-volatile memory durably stores a signature such as a serial number or identifier, which is used to mark protected multimedia content legally stored on the protected memory device. The protected multimedia content is moved from the source device to another device, such as a target device used to aggregated protected content in a library. Moving the protected multimedia content involves replacing a source-specific header, comprising digital rights management metadata and/or other security metadata allowing only a device having the source device signature access to the content, with a target-specific header comprising digital rights management metadata and/or other security metadata allowing only a device having the target device signature access to the content. The transfer is done using one of a variety of transfer methods with either a trusted or un-trusted host system connecting the source device to the target device.