The present invention is directed to methods and systems in which data are stored as encrypted records on a computer usable medium, and search requests are processed based on user identities to retrieve the data without decrypting all the stored records. Individual decryption keys are associated with identities of respective owners, without being revealed to the owners and are kept internal inside a computer. Finally, all keys are overwritten from the computer usable medium upon completion of each search request to take access away from a superuser or any unauthorized access to the system.