Age check by face scanner when buying smokes at petrol stations continues to cause hassle

The age check that petrol stations run a face scanner on consumers wishing to purchase smokes continues to cause hassle. While filling station owners and the manufacturer of the camera system claim they are only checking the age, customers think their face is indeed being recorded and analysed. ‘No identification or authentication of persons takes place.’

Petrol stations of all formulas have been checking the identification of anyone buying cigarettes or other smoking products since 1 October 2025. This can be done through a valid ID such as a passport or driving licence, but some filling stations also use a face scanner. This device scans the external features of a face and thus determines whether a person is over 18 years of age and thus entitled to purchase smokes. The aim of the 100 per cent age check is to safeguard staff from discussions about the age of a tobacco-buying customer.

In a recent article in the AD, Frank Versteegh, a customer at an Esso petrol station, claims that a scan is taken when he makes a purchase. There would be no announcement at the camera that this was going to happen, nor would he have been asked for permission. People who do not want to buy cigarettes would also be scanned. According to Versteegh, there is artificial intelligence (AI) behind such a face scan, which determines whether identification is necessary. “That means your data is being processed and that is prohibited,” he argues in the AD.

Well received

Bovag spokesman Stijn Oosterhoff said in a comment that a scanner is a valuable addition, which is well received by customers. “If someone does not want to identify themselves or has no papers with them, such an age scan can be a solution. That has to be clearly communicated, though.” Thereby, Oosterhoff says it is up to the supplier of the scanning equipment as well as the pump owner to ensure that the means used comply with existing (avg) legislation.

Prevents aggression

Director Gerbert Vissers of the Vissers Energy Group states in the same AD article that he uses the MyCheckr Mini for the age scan at petrol stations. According to him, this is a device without any storage, let alone an outside connection. “It checks whether someone is older or younger than 25 years, nothing else,” he said. In this regard, Vissers is happy with the MyCheckrs installed at his petrol stations. “It prevents a lot of aggression and for eighty per cent of customers it is nicer because they don’t have to show their ID,” he says.

Not allowed

Spokesman Herbert Brinkman of the Personal Data Authority, the watchdog on privacy legislation in the Netherlands, told the AD that “capturing and analysing a face using a camera system is a processing of personal data according to the AVG, Article 4”. According to the AVG, this falls under the processing ban. “That prohibition applies unless a specific exception applies.”
Exceptions include explicit consent of the data subject or a specific legal basis with a substantial public interest. For age verification in the sale of smoking products, Brinkman said there is no legal provision requiring or allowing the use of facial recognition. “The legal obligation relates only to age verification, not to the use of biometrics.”

Privacy-conscious

Richard van der Loo of MoneyTronic, distributor in the Netherlands of the MyCheckr Mini, commented to Mobility Energy that the scanning equipment used in petrol stations helps employees “in a safe and privacy-conscious way” to check age-related products, such as tobacco and alcohol. “The system is designed to provide objective support, not to track people or collect personal data. There is no sneaky scanning or storing of data. Everything the device temporarily processes disappears immediately after the age estimation is done. No photos are stored, no profiles are built and there is no linkage to external systems. Nor can the system identify or track people.”

The company claims to be “fully transparent” about how the product works. In doing so, all customers receive detailed documentation, including a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA). Van der Loo: “This guarantees that the processing of personal data has been carefully examined and meets the requirements of the AVG.”

Also read:

• Trade associations call on petrol stations to keep up ID checks on tobacco
• Argos petrol station in Drachten opens unmanned shop with tobacco vending machines
• Scan supplier Esso cites De Telegraaf report on AI scans in age verification as incorrect