A method implemented on an electronic computing device for authenticating a user includes receiving authentication information from the user. The authentication information is processed to generate a transformed authentication value, such that the received authentication information is unrecognizable from the transformed authentication value. A reference authentication value is obtained. The reference authentication value is unrecognizable from the received authentication information. The transformed authentication value is compared with the reference authentication value. When the transformed authentication value matches the reference authentication value, the user is authenticated.