ITL’s age verification technology renews age accuracy certification with leading results

Innovative Technology (ITL) have successfully renewed their certification from the independent body ACCS (Age Check Certification Scheme) achieving improved scores over their previous test two years ago. Their biometric age verification technology is successfully being used to control access to age-restricted products and restricted venues in various sectors including retail and gaming.

Dr Andrew O’Brien, Biometrics Product Manager commented, “We are absolutely delighted that our age verification technology has retained its Challenge 25 recommendation. ICU Lite, which powers all of our biometric devices, was vigorously tested by ACCS and the results showed an overall improvement from our last assessment in 2021. In fact, these results make us the first organisation to break the under 1 year Mean Absolute Error (MAE) barrier. The findings highlight that on average, our technology over estimates by only 0.39 years, with a MAE of 0.94 years. This robust, impartial certification from ACCS reaffirms our position as a leading provider of age estimation technology. It is testament to the hard work our team have put into developing our own algorithms to provide these great results.”

The Age Check Certification Scheme (ACCS) is a UKAS-accredited conformity assessment body, comprised of auditors, certification specialists, and data protection experts. They independently test and certify online and offline systems that check age and identity.

Tony Allen, Founder and CEO of ACCS explained, “Our role is to test that ID and age check systems work and produce accurate age attribute outputs thereby giving providers an independent benchmark. Our mission is to protect children from the harm associated with access to age-restricted products, content and services. This report concluded that ICU Lite is suitably accurate and fit for deployment in a Challenge 25 policy area, achieving the highest rate of accuracy.”

Andrew added, “Stopping minors from accessing age-restricted products like vapes, tobacco and alcohol and preventing underage gambling is high on the UK Government agenda, with consultations and reviews ongoing regarding the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, Gambling Act and Alcohol Licensing Act. How technology can play a key role in age verification is very much a key part of these reforms. Available at a one-time purchase cost with no additional fees per age check, plus local processing all done on the device, we offer an affordable and readily available solution for accurate age verification.”

Concluding Andrew said, “While the results we present today are really positive, the bigger picture here is that dependable and accurate age estimation solutions exist, and we along with others, continue to be very open regarding our performance.  These tools are available and can be deployed today to help retailers control access to age restricted goods and venues.  We all want to protect minors from accessing unsuitable products, but we must also provide retailers with the tools to help them achieve this.  The challenge now is to keep improving and continue to develop our solutions to ensure we remain at the forefront of this rapidly advancing market.”