Patent ID: 7945783

Claim:
A method comprising: offering a first code for decrypting a first section of an instant message as displayed in a chat window to at least one first instant messaging recipient, the first section of the instant message encrypted with a first encryption code; offering a second code for decrypting a second section of the instant message to at least one second instant messaging recipient, the second section of the instant message encrypted with a second encryption code; identifying first privately tagged data in a proposed text message and encrypting the first privately tagged data with the first encryption code; identifying second privately tagged data in the proposed text message and encrypting the second privately tagged data with the second encryption code; creating a text message from the proposed text message to include nonprivately tagged data, first encrypted first privately tagged data, and second encrypted second privately tagged data, wherein the offering of the first code to the at least one first instant messaging recipient further comprises: sending the first code to a certificate authority; requesting an indication of whether the at least one first instant messaging recipient accepts or rejects an offer of the first code; detecting the receipt of a response from the at least one first instant messaging recipient; and storing the response in the certificate authority.