Patent ID: 8572751

Claim:
A method for preventing unauthorized changes to an electronic document, comprising: accessing, via a computer device, the electronic document having a user interface control (UIC), the UIC being integrated into the electronic document; determining, via the computer device, whether a portion of the electronic document is protected by examining at least one of: a signature status of data in the electronic document associated with the UIC, or an archival status of the UIC, wherein the determining is in response to an attempted user interaction with the portion of the electronic document; and preventing, via the computer device, based on the determination that the portion of the electronic document is at least one of signed or archived, all user interaction with the signed or archived portion of the electronic document that affects at least one of: the data, or a presentation property of the electronic document that affects an interpretation of the data, wherein the data comprises a data item directly associated with the UIC.