UK: Artificial intelligence to automate age verification for vape retailers

British company Privately said it is providing its AgeAI app to vaping retailers in the UK to help prevent the sale of vaping products to minors under the age of 18. Using artificial intelligence, the camera scans the buyer's face and estimates their age. 

The company says the Age AI app has been approved by Peterborough City Council under the Primary Authority Register. The device has achieved EAL3 certification and a UK GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) compliance certificate, and has undergone successful trials in Europe and the US.[1].

Preventing sales to minors

Historically focused on online security technologies, such as the “Own It” app[2]» from the BBC, Privately has recently developed and deployed technology to automate age detection online and offline. The aim is to protect children. The retailer must set up the device in such a way that the cashier can see the main screen and the customers' faces are visible to the device's cameras. The age range can be set, for example over 25, 30 or 35. The app then offers a green/red colour-coding system, which indicates to the seller whether or not to ask the buyer for ID.

Privately said its FaceAssure technology, on which the AgeAI product is based, has passed Challenge 25 certification[3] from the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS). The system could thus identify anyone aged 18 to 20 as being under 25.

The company also says AgeAI automates the “refusal log,” making it easier to monitor store compliance over time.

This follows the recent release of the Underage Vape Sales Report which revealed that in 2023, there were 4,563 reported sales of a vaping product to a minor, equivalent to one report every two hours. These reports are up 31% from 2022.[4]The report also showed that only 41% of the retailers who were caught selling vapes to minors were fined. The others were only given a warning.

Similar processes elsewhere in Europe

Similar devices have been implemented in the Netherlands[5]. Since 1^er July 2024, all points of sale have been equipped with NIX18 facial scanners to determine the age of customers who want to buy cigarettes. If the buyer is estimated to be over 25 years old, the transaction can go ahead, but in case of doubt, the machine asks the buyer to scan an ID. The legal framework for the scanning process has been developed in collaboration with the product safety organisation NVWA (Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority), privacy organisations and lawyers, to ensure that the personal data of buyers is preserved. The scanner does not store any data and only records the number of scans.

In France, the National Committee against Smoking (CNCT) has been recommending for years the implementation of automated mechanisms to control the age of the customer. La Française des Jeux had tested the operation of facial recognition software (Yoti) that relied on artificial intelligence at its tobacconists for a few months in 2023[6]. The data of the research published by Yoti showed a margin of error ranging from 1.6 to 4.8 years depending on the audience.

©Tobacco Free Generation

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[1] Tony Corbin, New AI app to automate age verification for vape retailers, Talk Retailers, published September 12, 2024, accessed September 13, 2024

[2] The BBC Own It is a British news website designed to protect children using the internet.

[3] Challenge 25 is a British policy where anyone purchasing alcohol in the UK who looks under 25 is asked for ID to confirm their age.

[4] Generation without tobacco, UK: 60% retailers found to have sold vaping products to minors have not been penalised, published September 2, 2024, accessed September 13, 2024

[5] Generation without tobacco, Netherlands: facial scanners to check the age of tobacco buyers, published on April 10, 2024, consulted on September 13, 2024

[6] Felicia Sideris, Artificial intelligence: Française des Jeux tests facial recognition to identify minors, TF1, published on April 10, 2023, consulted on September 13, 2024