Patent ID: 8355528

Claim:
A method, comprising the steps of: a) providing a requester with a computer-readable program for a remote computer equipped with a digital photo camera, wherein said computer-readable program controls said digital photo camera and prevents alterations to an image taken with said digital photo camera on said remote computer, b) collecting a personal information from said requester via said computer-readable program for said remote computer or via a web-based graphical user interface, c) a server computer receiving from said remote computer a digital copy of an identification document of said requester, taken by said requester with said digital photo camera on said remote computer, wherein said identification document contains a requester's photograph, wherein said receiving is achieved by a first computer-readable code on said server computer and by a second computer-readable code on said remote computer, and wherein said server computer and said remote computer are communicatively connected via a computer network, d) isolating said requester's photograph from said digital copy of said identification document, e) obtaining one or more images from one or more computer network information sources, wherein said one or more images are selected from a plurality of all images in said one or more computer network information sources as a function of said personal information and wherein said function for selecting said one or more images from said plurality of all images in said one or more computer network information sources comprises selecting an image tagged with a name of said requester, f) comparing said requester's photograph with said one or more images obtained from said one or more computer network information sources using a predetermined algorithm, and g) calculating a statistical rating of a likelihood that said requester's photograph and said one or more images obtained from said one or more computer network information sources depict the same person.