As a business owner, not only do you have a moral obligation to, but also a legal obligation to to ensure you’re not selling age restricted products to minors. It seems simple, just put an “Are you over 18 or 21?” button on your website right? Wrong! Just having this button in place does not actually verify age, meaning your business might not be in compliance with the law. 

Regulations Based on Industry

What are some of the most common e-commerce age verification purchases being made online? 

To buy or sell vapes online or other e-cigarettes and tobacco products is extremely common, but you have to be at least 21 to purchase. However, a study by the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center found that in North Carolina, minors were successfully purchasing these age restricted products without any age verification an astounding 95% of the time.

Similar requirements are in place to sell cannabis online. Buyers must be at least 21 years old to purchase cannabis. However, it is a little trickier to successfully purchase marijuana as a minor because upon delivery (if that is available in your state), you must present an ID for inspection before the goods are handed off to you.

For online alcohol purchases, you again have to be 21, but that doesn’t stop teens trying to buy a drink. An article published in Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine found that 45% of alcohol purchase attempts made by underage persons were successful, even despite using their real ID. That leads to a whole other compliance issue, but for now, we are focused on the online aspect of things. As a business owner, do you know how to sell wine online will remaining compliant with state and federal laws? Age verification can help.

One final major industry where age verification is key, online gambling. You are supposed to be 21 to legally gamble, but that hasn’t stopped the children of the internet age. A study found that between 4-8% of youth between the ages of 12-17 years old have a “very serious gambling problem”, while 10-15% more are at risk of developing a gambling addiction. While in person gambling is strictly regulated, the online version is a little murkier. Due to the anonymity and ease of access of online gambling, it has become very easy for minors to gamble if they so desire. 

How Can You Remain Compliant Using E-Commerce Age Verification Methods?

Based on your industry, there are a number of precautions you can take to ensure compliance. An easy one is to scan an ID for age verification upon delivery of an age restricted product. A more secure, but still relatively easy method is to add an age verification button to your website. Now, you might think, “I already have one”, but if you’re not taking extra steps past the simple click of a button, your business isn’t truly verifying the age of your customers. This is where IDScan.net comes into the picture.

Adding that little button asking if the customer is older than 21 is a great first step, but what comes next? Our software can be quickly and easily integrated into your existing platform to require that your customers are sent a text message where they can scan their ID, as well as take a selfie that is then analyzed via AI technology to help verify your customer’s age. Our facial recognition technology, anti-spoofing checks, and liveness checks, combined with the physical ID photo that is uploaded, can quickly and easily verify age and ensure your business is taking the proper steps needed to remain compliant. 

Here at IDScan.net we are constantly testing and teaching our AI to help ensure security and compliance of the highest standard. To learn more about how our solutions can be integrated into your business or about ID Scanning Laws in your state, please visit our website, or set up an appointment with one of our industry experts.