December 23, 2025 – BAT Italia has teamed up with digital identity and age verification specialist Yoti to launch a pilot program using facial scanning technology for age verification. This initiative integrates innovation into retail environments to reinforce responsible sales practices for nicotine products, with a core focus on preventing underage purchases while strictly adhering to privacy regulations.
The pilot is now live across 119 pop-up stores nationwide. When purchasing tobacco, tobacco-free, or nicotine-based products, customers scan a QR code via smartphone to activate Yoti’s verification service. Using advanced algorithms, the system analyzes facial features solely to confirm whether the user is of legal age – without identifying the individual. Fully compliant with privacy laws, the system does not store facial images after verification.
Yoti’s facial age-estimation technology, previously trialed in Croatia for several months, has demonstrated both reliability and effectiveness, achieving 99% accuracy in retail settings.
This rollout marks a significant step in Italy’s effort to restrict underage access to products prohibited for those under 18, setting an industry example for tech-driven compliance. Designed with privacy-by-default principles, Yoti’s system shows minimal bias across skin tones and genders, correctly identifying 99.91% of 13–17-year-olds and effectively blocking underage purchases.
Andrea Di Paolo, Vice President of BAT Italia, stated that this technological layer adds security beyond traditional ID checks, reflecting not only regulatory compliance but a commitment to ethical responsibility beyond legal requirements. He emphasized that such measures are crucial to ensuring products reach only adult consumers, protecting youth, and driving ethical transformation across the industry. BAT Italia views this partnership as a concrete expression of its innovative vision – one that extends beyond improving products or processes to actively protecting society through technology.
