50% of teenagers buying age sensitive products online

Research out today has revealed that half of 15 year olds have bought age restricted items, such as alcohol, knives, films and video games, from retailers online. A third (33%) of 14 year olds have also been able to make purchases of this type, and nine out of ten (86%)

17 year olds said they did so without any trouble, despite still being underage. Six out of ten (60%) underage people know someone that has bought an age restricted item online and, of the children who had attempted to buy online, 90% said they were successful in doing so.

In worrying contrast, just over one in ten parents (16%) are aware of children under 18 being able to access restricted items online and 40% don’t restrict their child’s access to the internet. Three quarters (74%) of parents also say they never check if age restricted items are being purchased from their home address.

The research* was conducted on behalf of 192business, who provide expert services in age and identity verification. It was carried out among 12 to 17 year olds and parents to determine the scale of the issue as the Online Purchasing of Goods and Services (Age Verification) Bill undergoes its second reading in the House of Commons today.

According to the survey, underage purchasing poses the biggest problems for the video game (25%) and film (23%) industries, as the top target of underage purchases. The research also showed 6% of children have bought drink online, and 2% admitting they had downloaded adult content. Worryingly, 3% of young people aged 12-17 said that they have been able to purchase knives online.

Overall, a third (32%) of young people said they were more likely to try to buy age restricted items from an online retailer than in person. In order to make a purchase, most young people (25%) simply lie about their age when asked and 22% say they are able to click through and make the purchase without any difficulties.

In terms of preventative measures, the prospect of online retailers using an age & ID check  during the transaction was enough to put off underage consumers.  The next most successful deterrent was the promise of a retailer keeping a record of their card details.

192business are campaigning for retailers to act on tightening up their age verification measures in order to prevent the issue from getting any worse.  192business offer retailers the ability to verify their customer’s age at the point of the transaction in real time to ensure they are not selling age restricted goods to minors.

Brandon Cooke from the Trading Standards Institute comments “Unfortunately these results are not a surprise. The Trading Standards Institute highlighted this issue at its conference in June and called for a ban on online knife sales if the trade could not put its own house in order. This survey shows disregard for the law with virtually no precautions being taken by the majority of online retailers to avoid selling age restricted products to minors. There is a cost to legal compliance but it is essential to prevent possible harm from weapons and violent games”

Meanwhile this type of customer age check technology is already well established in other sectors such as the online gambling industry.  “UK online gambling operators take the issue of customer age verification very seriously and have all embedded age check technology into their websites.  If the gambling industry can achieve this, then surely so can other ecommerce businesses”, said Clive Hawkswood, CEO at the Remote Gambling Industry.  

Michelle Dixon, Age Verification Specialist at 192business, commented: “The figures show that there is still a long way to go when it comes to effective regulation in online retail. ID checks are routinely made in the face to face retail environment and the fact is that age and ID checks can just as easily be made with internet sales. As well as the serious dangers for young people, retailers stand to lose out massively if they’re caught selling age-restricted goods to underage consumers. The most immediate risks include reputational damage, a financial penalty and the possibility of enforcement action by Trading Standards teams. In any case by employing customer ID check technology retailers will get the double whammy of protecting themselves from card fraud. It’s surely a gamble that no business can afford to take as we emerge from recession.”

For more information about the reading of the Online Purchasing of Goods and Services (Age Verification) Bill, please visit http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2008-09/onlinepurchasingofgoodsandservicesageverification.html

 192business have produced a guide for online retailers outlining age restricted goods and ways to prevent underage sales; this can be accessed here.