Patent ID: 7949107

Claim:
A method for providing message privacy, comprising: setting a threshold value corresponding to a number of elements in an instant messaging (IM) message conversation pane; receiving or sending a current IM message; displaying the current IM message in the conversation pane; in response to the displaying of the current IM message in the conversation pane, displaying in the conversation pane only a predetermined number of elements received prior to the current IM message, based on the threshold value, wherein the elements are selected from the group consisting of characters, words, lines, and IM messages; and in response to the displaying of the current IM message in the conversation pane, causing a predetermined number of the elements displayed in the conversation pane to partially appear by displaying the predetermined number of the elements using a progressive shadowing, wherein the progressive shadowing causes the predetermined number of the elements to appear visibly lighter than the current IM message in the conversation pane, thereby providing message privacy by limiting visibility of sensitive data to an undesired viewer.