Protecting data on computers so that the data is only disclosed to appropriate parties has become an important concern for users. The types of data that users want to protect varies greatly, such as work-related or personal confidential documents, bank account numbers, credit card numbers, social security numbers, and so forth. Additionally, it is also important to some third parties to protect the data on the users' computers from improper use or access. For example, credit card issuers want credit card numbers to be protected so that they are not disclosed to malicious programs or parties hacking into the computer, music companies want songs to be protected so they cannot be copied, movie studios want movies to be protected so they cannot be copies, and so forth.
One solution to protect data on computers is to do away with general-purpose computing devices and use special-purpose tamper-resistant boxes for delivery, storage, and display of secure content. This solution, however, can be undesirable as it prevents users from expanding their computers (e.g., users cannot install additional software components and/or hardware components on such tamper-resistant boxes). Thus, it would be beneficial to provide a way to allow data to be protected on general-purpose computing devices.