Patent ID: 8520908

Claim:
A method, comprising the steps of: a) providing a requester with a computer-readable program for a remote computer equipped with a scanning device, wherein said computer-readable program controls said scanning device and prevents alterations to an image produced by said scanning device 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) transmitting from said remote computer to a server computer a digital copy of an identification document of said requester, produced by said scanning device on said remote computer, wherein said identification document contains a requester's photograph, wherein said transmitting 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, 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.