US Patent 9489354 Masking content while preserving layout of a webpage

A method and apparatus for masking and unmasking content. A system configured to practice the example method embodiment parses a markup language document to identify a location of a section of the markup language document to mask and selects, based on a content type for content within the section, replacement content for the section. Then the system saves a copy of the section in a storage external to the markup language document. The system inserts the replacement content in the markup language document at the location in place of the section to mask the section while preserving formatting and layout of the markup language document. Upon receiving an indication to restore the section, the system inserts the copy of the section in the markup language document at the location in place of the replacement content.