A data gathering system is guided by an Internet-capable appliance associated with a user, which has a Pin Vault software instance executing from a digital memory media coupled to the appliance and a Pin Vault file stored in a data repository coupled to the appliance. The Pin Vault file comprises data for authenticating the user to one or more web sites storing information of interest to the user, and the Pin Vault software cooperates with an Internet service to provide, from the Pin Vault, data as needed by the Internet service to log onto and authenticate as the user at the one or more web sites storing information of interest to the user, to gather information on behalf of the user. The data for authentication is never kept at the Internet service.