Patent ID: 7627562

Claim:
A method, implementable at least in part by a computing device, the method comprising: measuring a value of one or more indicators of stylometry in a stylometric reference; measuring a value of one or more indicators of distinctive stylometry in a document that correspond to the indicators of stylometry in the stylometric reference; comparing, using one or more processors of the computing device, the indicators of distinctive stylometry in the document with the corresponding indicators of stylometry in the stylometric reference, in which comparing comprises, for each of the indicators of stylometry in the stylometric reference and the corresponding indicators of distinctive stylometry in the document, ranking the indicators of distinctive stylometry in an order from highest to lowest difference in a value of distinctive stylometry between the stylometric reference and the document; providing, using one or more of the processors of the computing device, one or more alterations to the document to replace one or more of the indicators of distinctive stylometry in the document with one or more of the corresponding indicators of stylometry in the stylometric reference, following the ranking, beginning with the indicators of distinctive stylometry with the highest values of distinctive stylometry between the stylometric reference and the document, thereby reducing the distinctiveness of the indicators of distinctive stylometry in the document compared to the stylometric reference and increasing the anonymity of the document; and measuring a total remaining stylometric distinctiveness between the document and the stylometric reference after each alteration of one of the indicators of distinctive stylometry in the document with one of the indicators of stylometry in the stylometric reference.