A machine-assisted method for determining a trustworthiness of a requested transaction, the method comprising: receiving, at a transaction authentication engine from a participant entity, a request to determine a trustworthiness of a transaction request, the transaction request being submitted by a first user to access data associated with the participant entity, the transaction request including identity information of the user comprising a primary identification document presented by the user when requesting the transaction at the participant entity; submitting, by the transaction authentication engine a first inquiry at an authentication verification engine to determine an authenticity of a purported identity of the first user submitting the transaction request, the first inquiry encapsulating the identify information of the user; in response to the first inquiry, receiving, at the transaction authentication engine, a response from the authentication verification engine, wherein the response is formulated by the authentication verification engine solely using the identity information from the first inquiry to verify at one or more identity databases that hold information of users who have been previously vetted by a trusted entity through a vetting process to issue identification documents to each user rather than verifying with the user who initially submitted the transaction request, the trusted entity being different from the participant entity and wherein the response includes a computed authenticity score quantitatively attesting to the purported identity of the purported identity of the first user based on a degree of validity of the primary identification document as compared to information from the one or more identity databases; submitting, by the transaction authentication engine, a second inquiry at an authentication policy server to determine a scope of right possessed by the participant entity to verify identities of users; receiving, at the transaction authentication engine, a reply from the authentication policy server, the reply including a computed validity score indicative of the scope of right of the participant entity to verify identities of users; and based on the computed authenticity score and the computed validity score, determining, by the transaction authentication engine, the trustworthiness of the transaction request submitted by the first user; and notifying, by the transaction authentication engine, the participant entity of the determined trustworthiness of the transaction request to access data associated with the participant entity. receiving, at a transaction authentication engine from a participant entity, a request to determine a trustworthiness of a transaction request, the transaction request being submitted by a first user to access data associated with the participant entity, the transaction request including identity information of the user comprising a primary identification document presented by the user when requesting the transaction at the participant entity; submitting, by the transaction authentication engine a first inquiry at an authentication verification engine to determine an authenticity of a purported identity of the first user submitting the transaction request, the first inquiry encapsulating the identify information of the user; in response to the first inquiry, receiving, at the transaction authentication engine, a response from the authentication verification engine, wherein the response is formulated by the authentication verification engine solely using the identity information from the first inquiry to verify at one or more identity databases that hold information of users who have been previously vetted by a trusted entity through a vetting process to issue identification documents to each user rather than verifying with the user who initially submitted the transaction request, the trusted entity being different from the participant entity and wherein the response includes a computed authenticity score quantitatively attesting to the purported identity of the purported identity of the first user based on a degree of validity of the primary identification document as compared to information from the one or more identity databases; submitting, by the transaction authentication engine, a second inquiry at an authentication policy server to determine a scope of right possessed by the participant entity to verify identities of users; receiving, at the transaction authentication engine, a reply from the authentication policy server, the reply including a computed validity score indicative of the scope of right of the participant entity to verify identities of users; and based on the computed authenticity score and the computed validity score, determining, by the transaction authentication engine, the trustworthiness of the transaction request submitted by the first user; and notifying, by the transaction authentication engine, the participant entity of the determined trustworthiness of the transaction request to access data associated with the participant entity.