Supermarkets using 'facial age estimation' tech to card booze

And the software says: "21."

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Increasingly, you have little choice.

You're wafting through an airport. The only way you can keep wafting toward your destination is by standing in front of a camera and letting it take your picture, to confirm who you are.

But have you ever thought of all the other wonderful ways in which this ubiquitous video technology might make your life easier and happier?

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You go to the checkout and you're not asked for any documents to prove your age. Instead, there's a camera, accompanied by clever software, that estimates your age.

In my fantasy, it speaks to me and says, "Darling, you're no older than 38."

In reality, this system has recently been tested at various famous supermarkets in the UK. The likes of Asda and Tesco have been trialing a system created by a company called Yoti.

This company, quite naturally, enjoys the motto: "Digital Identity as a Force For Good." Because what else could it be?

Still, this big facial test was conducted in conjunction with the authorities. Yes, Britain's Home Office -- where one or two boozy parties may have been held during the pandemic -- has been intimately involved.

The twin joys of Yotification

There are two aspects to this Yotification system. The first may be the most fascinating. For this software estimates how old you are, as you're eagerly waiting to pay for your Pinot.

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Yoti insists the beauty of it is that you don't need to hand over any personal information. The company adds that any images are immediately pulped.

But what if the software thinks you're too young when you're not? Well, the humans in this experiment were then asked to use one of two apps -- one from Yoti and one from Britain's Post Office -- to scan a QR code and confirm their age.

So you're trying to hurry up, yet have to find an app on your phone, open it, and scan? Is that really quicker than showing your ID to a human?

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Says Yoti: "No underage customers purchased age restricted items when using the new Yoti age verification technology."

How distressing. A technology that claims to be perfect.

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