Patent ID: 8225396

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for detecting and warning users about hidden sensitive information contained in webpages, at least a portion of the method being performed by a client-side computing device comprising at least one processor, the method comprising: identifying, by a plug-in installed within a web browser on the client-side computing device, a publicly-viewable user profile accessed by the web browser on the client-side computing device; detecting, by the plug-in installed within the web browser on the client-side computing device, hidden sensitive information contained within the publicly-viewable user profile that is not visually displayed by the web browser but that is publicly accessible by others, wherein the hidden sensitive information comprises information associated with an owner of the publicly-viewable user profile that the owner wishes to keep private; warning, by the plug-in installed within the web browser on the client-side computing device, a user of the client-side computing device that the publicly-viewable user profile contains the hidden sensitive information associated with the owner of the publicly-viewable user profile that is not visually displayed but that is publicly accessible by others.