Methods, systems, and computer program products for entering sensitive and padding data using user-defined criteria

1. A method for handling sensitive data, comprising:

enabling, by a device, a user of the device to establish a sequence of two or more criteria to be used by the device for identifying sensitive data within a user-entered data sequence having both sensitive data and padding data, wherein the two or more criteria are established prior to input of the user-entered data sequence by the user, wherein said enabling is performed at an application level;

applying, by the device, a first of the two or more criteria to data entered by the user in response to a request for sensitive data from a requesting agent, to identify the sensitive data from within the data entered by the user;

providing only the sensitive data of the user-entered data sequence to the requesting agent; and

applying, by the device, a second of the two or more criteria of the sequence to further data entered by the user in response to a request for sensitive data from a requesting agent.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising applying, by the device, a third of the two or more criteria of the sequence to yet further data entered by the user in response to a request for sensitive data from a requesting agent.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising cycling, by the device, through the two or more criteria, beginning with the first of the two or more criteria, after a last of the two or more criteria has been applied.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the two or more criteria are different from each other and correspond to one or more types of rules selected from the group consisting of: significant sequence rules, pre-sensitive-data padding rules, post-sensitive data padding rules, interval padding rules, formulaic interval padding rules, feedback rules, combination rules, sequence rules, and default override rules.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein said enabling includes providing an application-level prompt to a user and receiving an affirmative response to the application-level prompt.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein said enabling includes enabling the user to establish the sequence of two or more criteria in response to an application-level selection by the user.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein said enabling includes providing the user with a list of candidate criteria.

8. An apparatus configured for handling sensitive data, the apparatus comprising:

means for enabling, at an application level, a user of the device to establish a sequence of two or more criteria to be used by the device for identifying sensitive data within a user-entered data sequence having both sensitive data and padding data, wherein the two or more criteria are established prior to input of the user-entered data sequence by the user;

means for applying a first of the two or more criteria to data entered by the user in response to a request for sensitive data from a requesting agent, to identify the sensitive data from within the data entered by the user;

means for providing only the sensitive data of the user-entered data sequence to the requesting agent; and

means for applying a second of the two or more criteria of the sequence to further data entered by the user in response to a request for sensitive data from a requesting agent.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing computer-executable instructions that, upon execution, result in the implementation of operations comprising:

enabling a user of the device to establish a sequence of two or more criteria to be used by the device for identifying sensitive data within a user-entered data sequence having both sensitive data and padding data, wherein the two or more criteria are established prior to input of the user-entered data sequence by the user, wherein said enabling is performed at an application level;

applying a first of the two or more criteria to data entered by the user in response to a request for sensitive data from a requesting agent, to identify the sensitive data from within the data entered by the user;

providing only the sensitive data of the user-entered data sequence to the requesting agent; and

applying a second of the two or more criteria of the sequence to further data entered by the user in response to a request for sensitive data from a requesting agent.

10. The medium of claim 9 , wherein the operations further comprise applying a third of the two or more criteria of the sequence to yet further data entered by the user in response to a request for sensitive data from a requesting agent.

11. The medium of claim 9 , wherein the operations further comprise cycling through the two or more criteria, beginning with the first of the two or more criteria, after a last of the two or more criteria has been applied.

12. The medium of claim 9 , wherein the two or more criteria are different from each other and correspond to one or more types of rules selected from the group consisting of: significant sequence rules, pre-sensitive-data padding rules, post-sensitive data padding rules, interval padding rules, formulaic interval padding rules, feedback rules, combination rules, sequence rules, and default override rules.

13. An apparatus comprising:

at least one computer system; and

the non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9 coupled to the least one computer system.

14. A device comprising:

at least one user input component; and

at least one computing component coupled to the at least one user input component and configured to:

enable, at an application level, a user of the device to use the at least one user input component to establish a sequence of two or more criteria to be used by the device for identifying sensitive data within a user-entered data sequence having both sensitive data and padding data, wherein the two or more criteria are established prior to input by the user of the user-entered data sequence, using the at least one user input component;

apply a first of the two or more criteria to data entered by the user in response to a request for sensitive data from a requesting agent, to identify the sensitive data from within the data entered by the user;

provide only the sensitive data of the user-entered data sequence to the requesting agent; and

apply a second of the two or more criteria of the sequence to further data entered by the user in response to a request for sensitive data from a requesting agent.

15. The device of claim 14 , further comprising at least one feedback component coupled to the at least one computing component and configured to provide at least one of audible, visual, olfactory, or tactile feedback to the user to prompt the user to enter a particular type of data.

16. The device of claim 15 , wherein the at least one feedback component comprises a tactile feedback component integrated with the at least one user input component.

17. The device of claim 14 , wherein the at least one computing component is further configured to apply a third of the two or more criteria of the sequence to yet further data entered by the user in response to a request for sensitive data from a requesting agent.

18. The device of claim 14 , wherein the at least one computing component is further configured to cycle through the two or more criteria, beginning with the first of the two or more criteria, after a last of the two or more criteria has been applied.

19. The device of claim 14 , wherein the at least one computing component is configured to enable the user to establish the sequence of two or more criteria by providing an application-level prompt to a user and receiving an affirmative response to the application-level prompt.

20. The device of claim 14 , wherein the at least one computing component is configured to enable the user to establish the sequence of two or more criteria in response to an application-level selection by the user.

21. The device of claim 14 , wherein the at least one computing component is configured to enable the user to establish the sequence of two or more criteria by providing the user with a list of candidate criteria.