A permutation algorithm using modular arithmetic is applied to the cells of one or more specific fields of a database or other file type. This permutation reorders the cells of the specific field(s) without altering content of any individual cell, thereby hiding relationships between cells of the permuted field(s) and the other information in the associated records. The permutation algorithm may use modular addition and modular subtraction, in either order. Different permutation algorithms may use varying numbers of parameters. To locate a specific cell in a permuted field, the parameter(s) from the permutation, an identification of the specific record associated with the cell, and an identification of the specific permuted field are applied in a modular arithmetic operation. A specific record with which a specific cell in a permuted field is associated may be obtained by an inverse modular arithmetic operation.