Companies are positively impacted by the presence of an age verification solution, in addition to adhering to a moral obligation to only let in clients with their ages verified. If the companies don’t have a reliable age verification solution and don’t verify the ages of their clients, they earn a negative image.
What is Age Verification?
The age verification system is used to determine if a person is of legal age to access a certain site or forum. The manual system of age verification is becoming outdated in the digital world, and age verification online services are gaining popularity.
Age Verification Laws Across the World
Laws In the US
- Self-validation procedures cannot be used in California to comply with age laws on cigarette and vape purchases. The distributors must cross-reference the user’s name, contact number, and date of birth with information with official data repositories. They want users to be at least 21 years old. According to California law, the supplier must also search the mailing address on the user’s payment card to see if it matches the address stated in the global data repositories.
- Comparably, age checks for online alcohol orders are inadequate in some states. A lot of American states require customers to display official government-issued identification cards to prove their age, making the use of a self-verification check unnecessary. Few states in the United States, including Michigan, Georgia, and Ohio, require electronic businesses to use an age verification solution before they place an order.
- Besides that, selling every tobacco product, like e-cigarettes, to those under the set age limit (21) is illegal in the US. The company is held responsible for any sales of such substances to minors, and the effects can be grave. As a result, relying entirely on a self-verification check is a big risk.
- In this manner, FDA reported that manufacturers who do not use third-party, age, and identity identification programs to verify patient information while selling drugs would face increased scrutiny and possible restrictions.
Laws In Europe and Canada
The Canadian government announced that simple self-verification tests are ineffective to prevent underage weed purchases and that online age verification is necessary. In a similar manner, minors under the age of 18 are prohibited from engaging in online gaming or sports betting in many EU countries like UK, Holland, Germany, etc. and the age checks used to strictly enact these prohibitions are inadequate.
2 Electronic Businesses in Most Need of Age Verification
Age verification is required in most nations around the world for different types of companies especially the digital ones, to test individuals for their age before delivering age-restricted goods or services. As outlined above, this is particularly true in parts of the EU, US, and Canada. Nevertheless, many sectors including online dating, casinos, pharmaceuticals, etc, are required to comply with age laws specific to their jurisdictions.
Online Gaming Companies
In most parts of the EU, the online gaming industry has expanded, especially in Germany, where thousands of active users play every day and millions join each year. This industry has to adhere to current rules and legislation in order to meet the age authentication criteria, otherwise, it would be buried under the restrictions put on by the regulatory authorities, tasked with keeping minors safe.
Recreational Drug Companies
The sale of items related to smoking or alcohol is prohibited by law in the recreational drug industry. People will now have to buy tobacco and alcohol items by displaying their IDs thanks to the digitalization of tobacco and alcohol shops. Avoiding age validation checks has become more difficult for mischievous minors when software takes a snapshot of their face and matches it to a legitimate and valid ID document.
In a Nutshell
Since age verification is mandated by law in most countries, online companies that choose to comply with KYC regulations must ensure that they are also up to date on the latest age laws and regulations. Checking minors’ identities before making any purchases has become mandatory, and failure to do so could result in severe sanctions and fines for businesses.
