Digital age estimation technology would make stores “a safer
place to work and shop” according to the British Retail
Consortium (BRC), as it calls on the Government to legislate to
allow the use of the technology to verify customers’ age for
sales of alcohol.
This call comes after successful trials by the Home
Office and Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS)
using the technology in stores at five retailers across the UK.
The trials found customers were happy to use the technology when
purchasing alcohol, and there were no reported incidents of
underage purchases of age-restricted items during the trials. The
hope is that this technology can increase the convenience and
speed of alcohol purchases, as well as reducing the risk of
violence or abuse associated with age verification.
According to the BRC’s most recent crime survey, retail staff
face over 1,300 incidents of violence and abuse every day. One of
the most common triggers for these incidents is when staff ask
customers to verify their age for alcohol sales. Legislation
allowing digital age estimation technology could significantly
reduce these incidents as it would take store colleagues out of
harm’s way.
Digital age estimation technology can successfully determine the
age range of an individual by capturing, analysing and comparing
patterns based on an individual’s face. All images are instantly
deleted following the completion of age-verification.
This technology is already used for other age restricted products
such as tobacco and knives, and the Government should extend its
use to alcohol sales, which is the most purchased age restricted
product.
Tom Ironside, Director of Business Regulation at the BRC,
said:
“The BRC has long campaigned for digital age estimation
technology to be used to verify a person’s age for the purchase
of alcohol. With incidents of violence and abuse against retail
staff sharply rising, the technology would help to make stores a
safer place to work and shop. Digital forms of age verification
can already be used for all other age restricted products such as
tobacco, knives and medicine, and there is no reason this cannot
also be extended to alcohol sales.”
-ENDS-
Notes:
- Among the technologies being trialled by the Home Office and
OPSS, was a technology from BRC Associate Member, Yoti.
- Yoti’s technology, uses AI to estimate a customer’s age from
their facial scan at the self-service checkout. It was set to
refuse any customers deemed to be under a pre-determined age and
alerted a staff member to perform a manual age check.
- Yoti’s technology was used in the trial at four supermarkets,
all of whom are BRC members. The trial also included one
wholesaler, who is not a BRC member and was not using the Yoti
technology.
