Touch2id application lets smartphones act as identification verifies adult status.
Smartphones are not only great for communicating, shopping, and content consumption, but in the United Kingdom, some mobile apps are now allowing these devices to provide various venues with a proof of age for their patrons.
A Touch2id sticker is allowing people to prove that they are old enough to legally drink alcohol.
By using this technology, adults in the U.K. are able to save themselves from the frustration and hassle of having to prove that they are of age when they are purchasing alcohol. It involves the use of a sticker that can be attached to the smartphone, which contains the data which is associated with the user’s fingerprint.
To access this data, the sticker simply needs to be held over one of the handheld cordless readers from Touch2id, which are located at licensed venues, so that the adult status of the user can be verified.
The system has already undergone a pilot program over a period of two years and is finally being rolled out for public use. It is aimed specifically at individuals between the ages of 18 and 25 years old – those who are most likely to be asked to present ID to prove their age. It can be obtained at post offices, where individuals enrolling in the program must bring proof of their data and give their fingerprint in order to receive the necessary sticker.
The enrollment process isn’t very involved and typically takes around 5 minutes to complete.
The sticker is a part of an expanding effort to help to minimize the problem of underage drinking. It is considered to be useful because it would be exceptionally difficult and expensive to forge, and cannot be transferred from one individual to another as it is based on the enrollee’s fingerprint, which will be scanned with its use.
The existing form of photo identification is much easier and less costly to compromise, which is allowing more cases of underage drinking to occur, even when the venue takes careful measures to check for proof of age before serving alcoholic beverages.
