Document fingerprinting

A method, comprising:

• capturing a first digital image of a physical object;
• parsing the digital image into at least one region of interest;
• extracting identifying information from the region of interest, the identifying information including at least one feature located within the region of interest, wherein the feature naturally occurs on the physical object and is not added to it for purposes of identification;
• combining the at least one feature for each region of interest to form a digital fingerprint of the object;
• storing the digital fingerprint in a database, wherein the database comprises a plurality of digital fingerprints each associated with a corresponding physical object;
• subsequently, obtaining a second digital image of a second physical object;
• parsing the second image into at least one region of interest of the second object;
• extracting identifying information from the region of interest, the identifying information including at least one feature of the region of interest of the second object;
• querying the database to return digital fingerprint records that include at least one feature located in the same region of interest as the feature of the second object;
• comparing the feature of the second object to the digital fingerprints returned in response to the querying step;
• and
• responsive to the comparison, return an indication as to whether the second object is the first object.