Swiss SafetyTech startup Privately has signed an agreement with action group “Our Vape Advocacy” to provide a customized version of its AgeAI app in hundreds of vape stores across the UK. Launched in July 2023 also in Ireland, the app has enabled Privately to perform nearly a million age checks in stores already.
Hundreds of independent vape stores across the UK are set to benefit from a pioneering AI app that provides automated and highly accurate facial age estimation, removing guesswork from age checks and mitigating the risk of fines that can exceed £1,500.
AgeAI is 100% anonymous, with no images transmitted or stored, and GDPR (UK) certified. Its highly accurate age estimations help avoid costly fines and protect staff by reducing the need for unnecessary ID checks for adults that are a source of major conflict.
“We want to proactively ensure that our members are doing their best to avoid selling to minors and Privately’s AgeAI is the ideal solution for our industry," said James Van Aalst, Our Vape Advocacy. "We are delivering a bespoke version of AgeAI that is best in class and designed with vape retailers in mind. It is lightning-fast at the checkout, greatly reduces friction between staff and customers, and is incredibly easy to set up. AgeAI automates the ‘refusals register’, making monitoring store compliance easier over time.”
The 2024 Underage Vape Sales Report recently revealed that two retailers were caught every single day selling vapes to underage teens in 2023. Guilty retailers could see fines exceeding £1,500, while the upcoming Tobacco and Vapes Bill aims to tighten vape sales regulations further.
Privately’s FaceAssure technology, on which the AgeAI product is based, has passed the Challenge 25 certification of UKAS, meaning it can identify 18–20-year-olds with 100% accuracy as being under 25. Age AI has also been approved by Peterborough City Council, as part of the Primary Authority Register, has undergone rigorous testing, including EAL3 certification and UK GDPR compliance, and has been positively trialled in Europe and the US.
“The vape industry is a highly fragmented sector and under massive scrutiny right now, and there’s an urgent need to clamp down on underage sales,” said Deepak Tewari, CEO, Privately SA. “OVA members will now be assured they have an automated, accurate and speedy solution that means store staff can avoid the confrontation that comes from requests for ID and turning people away.”
Fostering online child safety
Privately is a SafetyTech startup whose child safety apps have protected more than 100,000 children in the UK and worldwide. Historically focused on online safety tech, such as the BBC's 'Own It' online child safety app, it has recently developed and deployed technology to automate age detection online/offline to protect children and give them age-appropriate experiences. During the past year, Privately has carried out almost 1 Million age check transactions in retail environments.
(PR - ES)
The new Swiss Venture Capital Report was published on 26 January. It analyses 304 financing rounds closed in 2020 and includes further article such as an interview with Michael Hengartner, President of the ETH Board, and a list of Swiss "soonicorns". 
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