Liquor stores check customer age with webcam

About sixty liquor stores have installed hardware in their stores to check the age of a customer via a webcam. Via so-called Ageviewers from the company HEM, the green light is given or not within three seconds.

When purchasing alcoholic drinks, a minimum age of 16 or 18 years applies. A customer has to stand in front of a webcam, where the images are sent to a central control system in Breda. There it is determined within a few seconds by a ‘verification employee’ whether or not the person is of age and may purchase alcoholic beverages. If in doubt about the age, you will be asked to place proof of identity at the terminal. Only when the Ageviewer issues an authorization signal, the liquor store can complete the transaction via his cash register.

According to the manufacturer, the company HEM from Breda, the privacy of the customer is guaranteed. No images would be stored, while the Ageviewers recordings would be sent over a secure network. A customer can also choose not to cooperate with the age check, but then he is not allowed to bring alcoholic products because a transaction is impossible.

The Ageviewer must become a comprehensive age control system, according to the initiators, including liquor stores, HEM and a number of projects that aim to reduce alcohol use among minors. The system will be installed at approximately sixty liquor stores.

When implementing the Ageviewer in a liquor store, the legal liability with regard to the correctness of an age check rests with the company HEM, and therefore no longer with the retailer. HEM’s Ageviewer system was first tested in 2008 during a six-month trial at C1000 supermarkets.