Yoti blog
Stories and insights from the world of digital identity
Articles
Jun 17, 2025
"We need an army of Elliots" - why it’s bonkers we’re not using facial age estimation to sell alcohol
Let’s just get this out there: humans are not great at guessing ages. Don’t just take our word for it. Studies have proven this to be the case. Most of us reckon we can largely say if someone is under 25 using the Challenge 25 technique but when put to the test, the truth comes out: retailers do let some under 18s buy alcohol. Not always and not everyone, but some people are incorrectly estimated to be older than they really are. Let’s be honest, this is not ideal. Now, to be fair, not all humans are created equal.
Articles
Jun 16, 2025
Why facial age estimation, the most accurate age checking tool, shouldn’t be left on the sidelines
Many of us have been there: standing at a self-checkout, scanning our shopping, only to hit a roadblock when the till flags an age-restricted item like a bottle of wine or a pack of beer. With age verification accounting for between 40 – 50% of interventions at self-checkouts, it significantly disrupts and slows down the checkout experience. We wait for a retail worker to approve the sale. The retail worker does a visual estimation of our age – they look at our face and guess whether we’re old enough to buy the item. Most retailers follow the Challenge 25
Articles
Jun 09, 2025
Why testing data is as important as training data for machine learning models
When developing machine learning systems for facial age estimation, the conversation often centres on the training data: how much you have, how diverse it is, how inclusive it is, and how well it represents your end users. Not to mention, where the data comes from. Intuitively, that focus makes sense. More data presumably leads to better models. But test data is just as important, and in some ways, even more critical for ensuring models perform effectively. Training data: more isn’t always better Common sense would suggest that for a machine learning model “the more data, the better.” And that’s
Articles
Jun 04, 2025
Texas App Store Accountability Act: what it means for age assurance worldwide
The State of Texas has passed a landmark law – the App Store Accountability Act – that places legal responsibility for age checking squarely on app store operators. Utah was the first state to enact this type of legislation, now followed by Texas. This new regulatory shift has far-reaching implications for digital safety, privacy and innovation around the world. As an age assurance provider, we believe it’s critical to explain the significance of this development, highlight the practical challenges it raises, and offer a path forward that protects both users and platforms. One of the main weaknesses of this
Articles
May 30, 2025
Thoughts from our CEO
In this blog series, our CEO Robin Tombs will be sharing his experience, whilst focusing on major themes, news and issues in the world of identity verification and age assurance. This month, Robin chats about the UK’s supermarket trials, the growing momentum behind digital ID and developments in online safety regulations. Facial age estimation and Digital ID supermarket trials Many Yoti followers will know we developed effective facial age estimation at the end of 2018 – over 6 years ago. After several UK supermarkets pleaded for the Home Office to trial the technology at self-checkouts, trials were completed
Articles
May 22, 2025
Protecting your business and customers from account takeover
In today’s digital world, we have dozens of online accounts. These range from online banking to social media, dating apps to gaming platforms. Though convenient, this opens the door to the rapidly growing threat of account takeover fraud. Account takeover fraud is surging, with global losses expected to hit $17 billion by the end of 2025. The number of account takeover attacks is rising sharply too, increasing by 24% year-over-year in 2024. This blog walks you through what account takeover is, how it happens and what you can do to prevent it. What is account takeover? At its
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Articles
Mar 25, 2025
Discover Yoti's B Corp Impact Report
We’ve reached a full decade of being a B Corp! At Yoti, we believe technology has the power to create a safer, fairer and more trusted world. But as the world of technology evolves, we know we must remain mindful of how we do business. As part of our commitment to balancing profit and purpose, we’re thrilled to announce the release of our new B Corp Impact Report. It highlights our progress and impact in the areas that matter most to our stakeholders, our community and the planet. Highlights include: Improving the accessibility requirements of
Articles
Aug 29, 2024
Protecting your heart and wallet: understanding romance scams
It is said that love makes the world go round. But as genuine daters are looking for love, there’s a growing risk of falling into a scammer’s trap. In this blog we explore the impact of romance fraud, common tactics used by fraudsters and how daters can protect themselves in their search for love. What is romance fraud? Romance fraud occurs when a scammer uses a fake profile and false identity to trick unsuspecting people on dating sites. They usually do this for fraudulent reasons and financial gain. The fraudster will often go to great lengths, convincing
Articles
May 28, 2024
The importance of transparency for facial age estimation
To protect young people online, businesses need to provide age-appropriate experiences for their users. This could apply to online marketplaces, social media networks, content sharing platforms and gaming sites. But to put the correct measures in place, businesses need to know the ages of their customers. It was previously thought that the only way to confidently establish a user’s age was with an identity document, like a passport or driving licence, or checks to third-party databases such as credit reference agencies or mobile network operators. However, regulators are now recognising facial age estimation as an effective alternative. As with