Patent ID: 8220047

Claim:
A computer-implemented method comprising: at a computing device having one or more processors, memory, a database storing private information of a user, a transmission module, and an anti-phishing module: generating a trigger event based on forwarding information, wherein the forwarding information comprises information indicating a manner in which a user is directed to an electronic document; in response to the trigger event: monitoring a user input data stream input to the computing device subsequent to the trigger event; as the user enters, subsequent to the trigger event, one or more characters into the user input data stream: comparing characters in the user input data stream with the private information of the user stored in the database; identifying, in the user input data stream, one or more characters corresponding to the private information of the user, wherein the one or more characters are identified before the user inputs all characters of the private information; and taking an action to protect the private information based on identifying the one or more characters, wherein the action includes stopping transmission by the transmission module of the user input data stream to a server remotely located from the computer device before the user inputs all characters of the private information.