1. A method for verifying biometric and/or other information obtained from persons and/or from documents to verify the identity of the persons and/or the validity of the documents, while protecting the privacy of the persons, where there are databases with information about the persons and the documents, said method comprising the steps of: identifying the database(s) that contain information necessary for verifying the obtained information; comparing the information from the identified database(s) with the obtained information to verify the latter without disclosing database information to anyone; and providing an indication whether or not the obtained information matches the information from the identified database(s).