Abstract: A method and means to control the degree to which the presence of covert information may be reduced, eliminated or corrupted in documents created on a computer device (particularly complex documents) before the document is transmitted outside a secure environment in which the document is created. The process of handling a document in a secure environment comprises the preferred step of displaying the document or a predetermined portion thereof in a manner which conforms to the rule that no pixel of the display is written to more than once for the current portion of the document being displayed.