Age verification methods used by internet tobacco vendors (ITVs) selling e-cigarettes
| 2013 n=281 | 2014 n=283 | |
| Strategy or method | ITV sites, n (%) | ITV sites, n (%) |
| Age warning on home page* | 168 (59.8) | 148 (52.3) |
| No attempts to verify age at all* | 17 (6.0) | 32 (11.3) |
| Uses only age verification strategies that cannot effectively verify age* | 173 (61.6) | 147 (51.9) |
| Age verification strategies that cannot effectively verify age† | 252 (89.7) | 244 (86.2) |
| User clicks checkbox/button | 128 (45.6) | 126 (44.5) |
| ‘Submitting order’ certifies age | 232 (82.6) | 227 (80.2) |
| Accepts only credit card payments‡ | 2 (0.7) | 22 (7.8) |
| Age verification strategies that could potentially verify age† | 91 (32.4) | 104 (36.7) |
| Date of birth | 75 (26.7) | 82 (29.0) |
| Date of birth only | 8 (2.8) | 4 (1.4) |
| Date of birth+less rigorous strategy§ | 47 (16.7) | 50 (17.7) |
| Date of birth+more rigorous strategy¶ | 20 (7.1) | 28 (9.9) |
| Claims to use online age verification service | 20 (7.1) | 24 (8.5) |
| Site claims age verified at delivery | 18 (6.4) | 23 (8.1) |
| Sending a copy of driving licence‡ | 5 (1.8) | 21 (7.4) |
| Entering driving licence number | 2 (0.7) | 5 (1.8) |
| Social Security Number | 1 (0.4) | 3 (1.1) |
| Call customer service | 0 (0.0) | 1 (0.4) |
| Challenge question | 0 (0.0) | 1 (0.4) |
The data in the table include both vendors who reported they would use the age verification strategy and those that said the user ‘may be’ required to undergo that type of age verification, including three ‘may be’ answers for date of birth, five for claiming to use an online age verification service, 14 requiring sending a copy of a driving licence and two requiring entry of a driving licence number.
*p<0.05 (data reflecting statistically significant differences between 2013 and 2014 are boldfaced).
†Because some vendors offer multiple age verification methods, subcategories are not mutually exclusive.
‡p<0.01 (data reflecting statistically significant differences between 2013 and 2014 are boldfaced).
§Less rigorous strategies include user clicks checkbox/button, ‘submitting order’ certifies age and accepts only credit card payments.¶More rigorous strategies than date of birth include all other strategies listed below date of birth.