Patent ID: 8069256

Claim:
A method for authenticating the identity of a person who claims to be the owner of a certain identity identifier, said method implemented on a computer system having a processor configured to perform the steps of: enrolling an owner with a trustee via a computing system by having the owner provide personal information and at least one identity identifier to the trustee, the trustee performing the steps of: verifying the identity of the owner and ownership credentials; issuing at least one identity password to the owner through a secure interface, the identity password being changeable from time to time by the owner, and associated with the at least one identity identifier of the owner; applying a rule to the at least one identity identifier and at least one identity password to create a first complex-data-item; and storing the first complex-data-item in association with the personal information of the owner in a database; notifying a third party interested in authenticating an owner's identity, the owner performing the steps of: alerting the third party of the owner's enrollment with the trustee; and providing the third party with authentication data including the at least one identity identifier and at least one identity password associated with the at least one identity identifier; the third party contacting the trustee and submitting the authentication data to the trustee; verifying the remote third party's login credentials at the trustee's computer, the trustee's computer performing the steps of: calculating a second complex-data-item by applying trustee's rule to the authentication data; comparing the second complex-data-item to the first complex-data-item stored in the database; and granting access to the owner's personal information if the second complex-data-item matches the first complex-data-item; wherein at the time of owner's transmission to the trustee, or a third party's computer facilities, only one of the owner's identity passwords is recalculated and altered based upon a pre-assigned rule and rule flag of the third party.