A method, comprising: receiving a first data stream, and a second data stream, wherein the first data stream was generated using a base seed and has a compressibility N, and the second data stream was generated using a self seed and has a compressibility M, wherein the first data stream includes a base seed component that comprises data that is common with data of another data stream, and the second data stream includes a self-seed component that comprises data that is unique to a particular computing entity, wherein each of the first data stream and the second data stream is received from a respective client, and each client is identifiable by a respective unique combination (base seed, self seed), wherein the base seed in the combination corresponds to a particular population of clients, and the self seed in the combination identifies a particular client in that population of clients; receiving a commonality factor 'F', wherein the commonality factor comprises a set of values that includes a respective commonality value for each of the base seeds; using the commonality factor 'F,' the base seed component, and the self seed component, to create a mixed data stream having a commonality of 'F' by mixing data from the first and second data streams together, wherein the commonality of 'F' of the mixed data stream indicates (i) an extent to which the mixed data stream includes base seed component data, and (ii) an extent to which the mixed data stream includes self-seed component data; and outputting the mixed data stream; and deduplicating data of the mixed data stream that is common to one or more other data streams. receiving a first data stream, and a second data stream, wherein the first data stream was generated using a base seed and has a compressibility N, and the second data stream was generated using a self seed and has a compressibility M, wherein the first data stream includes a base seed component that comprises data that is common with data of another data stream, and the second data stream includes a self-seed component that comprises data that is unique to a particular computing entity, wherein each of the first data stream and the second data stream is received from a respective client, and each client is identifiable by a respective unique combination (base seed, self seed), wherein the base seed in the combination corresponds to a particular population of clients, and the self seed in the combination identifies a particular client in that population of clients; receiving a commonality factor 'F', wherein the commonality factor comprises a set of values that includes a respective commonality value for each of the base seeds; using the commonality factor 'F,' the base seed component, and the self seed component, to create a mixed data stream having a commonality of 'F' by mixing data from the first and second data streams together, wherein the commonality of 'F' of the mixed data stream indicates (i) an extent to which the mixed data stream includes base seed component data, and (ii) an extent to which the mixed data stream includes self-seed component data; and outputting the mixed data stream; and deduplicating data of the mixed data stream that is common to one or more other data streams. <EOS>