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- Personal payment: in the Russian Federation they want to allow online sale of 18+ products using biometrics
Personal payment: in the Russian Federation they want to allow online sale of 18+ products using biometrics
In Russia, they want to allow the sale of age-restricted goods on the Internet from 2027, Izvestia found out. Biometrics will be used to confirm the age of majority (both upon purchase and upon receipt of the order). At the same time, so far we are talking only about energy drinks, fireworks, literature for adults, but not about alcohol and tobacco. The authorities are arguing about whether it is worth allowing such products to be bought online, because this contradicts the goal of improving the health of citizens. How the online sale of 18+ goods can work and whether it is safe to donate biometrics is in the Izvestia article.
How to buy 18+ products online
The authorities may allow the purchase of goods with an 18+ restriction on online platforms, the office of Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Grigorenko told Izvestia. It is assumed that the age will be confirmed through a Single Biometric System (EBS). The mechanism will become a voluntary option for online platforms.
"It is proposed to confirm the age of users when buying energy drinks, pyrotechnics, 18+ printed products, lighters and cans for refueling them, as well as other goods that require age verification when selling," a source familiar with the discussion of the bill explained to Izvestia.
The norm on the online sale of 18+ goods should enter into force on March 1, 2027, the source of Izvestia clarified.
At the same time, the possibility of selling alcohol and tobacco online is not provided, Dmitry Grigorenko's office stressed. For this, additional changes in the law are needed, the Center for Biometric Technologies (CBT is the operator of the Unified Biometric System) clarified. Currently, there is a separate ban on online alcohol sales.
Izvestia has sent a request to the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation on the development of biometric services in the Russian Federation.
The EBS stores biometric data of Russians — casts of their faces and voices. Submitting information there is voluntary: people can do this at any bank branch, as well as online through the Gosuslugi portal. With the help of biometrics, it is already possible to pay for purchases and transportation without contact, open a business remotely, and check into a hotel without a passport. To use the age verification service, you will need standard or verified biometrics. The standard one is registered remotely in the application "Gosuslugi Biometrics", the confirmed one is registered in bank branches.
Why can't I order alcohol online
— There is a unique situation in Russia. You can already buy a car online, arrange real estate transactions, but you can't order a bottle of wine. At the current level of online retail development, it all looks anecdotal," a source close to the government told Izvestia.
Biometric services could become a useful mechanism for online trading of alcohol and tobacco products, the press service of the united company Wildberries & Russ is confident. Such products can be sold through marketplaces if the sales mechanism is reliable and secure. Izvestia sent a request to other marketplaces.
On the one hand, there is strong resistance from offline networks regarding the online sale of age-restricted goods - they fear that some customers will stop visiting them if alcohol delivery appears, the source added. On the other hand, some authorities are opposed to expanding sales channels, because this contradicts the goal of officials to reduce alcohol consumption in Russia. On the other hand, experts note that there is a market for "gray" delivery and its volumes already amount to tens of billions of rubles. Measures to "whitewash" alcohol delivery are long overdue.
These ideas have been in the air since the early 2000s, economist Andrei Barkhota recalled. Thanks to the dynamic development of online trading platforms and rapid customer identification systems, these projects are becoming real today.
The range of online trading platforms can greatly expand, and with it the turnover of such platforms, said Oleg Abelev, head of the analytical department of the investment company Rikom-Trust.
How will the purchase of 18+ products using biometrics work?
When purchasing goods with age restrictions, the EBS will receive a request for the number of full years of the buyer, the CBT clarified. If he is an adult, the operation will be approved, if not, it will be rejected.
In addition, the age will be confirmed at the stages of registration and receipt of the order, the CBT noted. At the first stage, the age will be confirmed through the application or website through which it is processed. Upon receipt — on the courier's device, the user's device, or through the terminal at the pick-up point.
Technologically, the age confirmation service for biometrics has already been implemented, the CBT explained. It is planned to be implemented in vending machines in the third quarter of 2025, at self—service cash desks in the second half of 2025. Then it just needs to be expanded to a new segment.
Biometrics payments in general are already being tightly integrated into everyday life. In Sberbank alone, in the first quarter of 2025, customers made 37 million face-to—face payments, which is almost one and a half times more than in the whole of 2024. In the Dom bank.The Russian Federation has also noted a threefold increase in the number of users of biometric services for opening mortgage accounts since the beginning of the year, said Nikolai Kozak, deputy chairman of the board of the organization.
Is it safe to submit data to the EBS
Many Russians are afraid to hand over their biometric data because they may fall into the hands of fraudsters, added Alexander Bleznekov, head of information security at Telecom Exchange. However, the EBS is protected to the highest standards, and the data is stored there in encrypted form separately from personal data. It was to ensure the security of such information that in the summer of 2023, commercial companies were banned from storing biometrics, they transferred everything to the state system.
— During the entire period of operation of the EBS, there has not been a single leak of biometric data of customers, — said the press service of the CBT.
Even if it had happened, it would have been almost impossible to use this information, Alexander Bleznekov added. The attackers would simply receive a set of encrypted facial data — the so-called vector. It cannot be used to identify a person, and it is useless for hacking.
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