A data storage system that protects privacy and ensures security includes
a plurality of nodes in a networked architecture, the nodes being adapted
to securely communicate and co-operate with one another to allow storage
and retrieval of data. A single piece of biometric data is associated
only with a blinded identifier and securely divided across one or more
nodes, adapted for data storage. The data itself and the link to the
original individual, from whom the biometric was acquired, cannot be
obtained without the co-operation of two or more nodes.