Yoti

Now, it has.

And, without leaning too hard into stereotypes, I'll call attention to a conversation I had recently with Emily Hyatt from UK provider Yoti.

Here's the bit that grabs me.

Our store is the big one that I guess a lot of the retailers have been waiting for.

Then consider how central the pub is to UK culture, or beer for that matter, and factor in that it's one of the world's most connected populations, where, depending on who you ask, somewhere between 93 and 98% of people have a smartphone.

Taken together, you have a country in which most people drink, most people have phones, and they can now use those phones, or what's on them, to both pay for alcohol and prove their age.

Yoti estimates that about a quarter of 18 to 25-year-olds in the UK have already downloaded its digital ID app, or the Easy ID app from the post office, with which Yoti ID is interoperable.

Getting everyone there won't happen instantly.

Uh, it's gonna be optional for businesses, and it runs on certified third-party providers, uh, rather than a government app.

So that'll be Yoti or the likes of, of that, I would imagine.

Uh, now the press release sets it as, sets it out as a privacy positive thing.

Um, and I suppose in a limited sense it is because the pub learns less about you than it does from a driving license.

Or is it? Uh, pubs and shops in England and Wales may now accept digital IDs for proof of age when buying alcohol.

Uh, apps like Yoti will generate a QR code that can be scanned, and then approve the sale.

You can't use it for tobacco yet though, just for the booze.

Interesting.

It's the storage of the identifiers and of the age information that causes a lot of security concerns.

In fact, one of the fines, I touched on it here a few months ago, there was a fine in Spain to a UK company called Yoti.

Yes.

They do.

On today's show, you'll hear from one of those providers.

This week, I spoke with Emily Hyatt, group product manager for Yoti.

Our conversation covered everything from what a transaction using digital ID will look like to bigger questions about trust, timing, and the responsibility that providers have to deliver the goods.

Here's my conversation with Emily Hyatt from UK digital ID provider Yoti.

Uh, we're here today to talk about the changes to the mandatory licensing conditions coming to the UK, which will make it possible for UK consumers to prove their age using digital ID when they buy alcohol.

Um, I have with me today Emily Hyatt, uh, product manager for Yoti, and, um, Emily, I just wanna ask you the first question here is why has this taken so long?

[chuckles] That's a very good question.

So the government are very aware of perception.

Poor fella.

I did see, uh, Tyler, the Creator pop in though at, um, Yoti being put through a table.

Did he?

He was loving it.

From what little I've seen, I'll be completely honest, I said before I need a little bit of context for some of these matches.

I thought Yoti was on the cusp of getting written out 'cause he was so woeful.

Hm.

Where was he like...