Age Verification Explained

Vapepievape.com provides age verification solutions for e-commerce websites that sell age-restricted products.

Age Gate vs. Age Verification
An age gate is the pop-up that appears when you enter an age-restricted website, for example a gaming site, or one that sells tobacco products, alcohol, adult products and the like. The Vapepievape.com age gate is not intended to replace our full age verification service, because it does not validate whether the information entered is accurate. It does, however, inform users of the minimum age requirement and help merchants meet their own age policies when it is used alongside our comprehensive age verification system.

Why Is Age Verification Required?
Websites that sell certain products must comply with federal, provincial and territorial law. In Canada, for example, the federal Tobacco and Vaping Products Act prohibits selling or delivering tobacco and vaping products to anyone under 18, while most provinces and territories set the minimum age at 19. Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec set it at 18, and Prince Edward Island at 21. Alcohol and cannabis carry their own age limits, which also vary by province or territory, and several provinces require retailers to ask anyone who appears younger than 25 for identification. Online retailers must, just as physical stores do, confirm that a customer has reached the legal minimum age before a sale is completed. Federal law also requires that products delivered to a buyer be handed over only after the recipient's age has been verified.

Some websites use our service even where they are not legally required to verify age, and every website sets its own policies.

Vapepievape.com can be used to support compliance with minimum-age laws, block sales to provinces, territories or regions that a business does not wish to serve, screen applicants, carry out identity checks to prevent fraud, and more. Responsibility for those requirements, and for the reasons behind them, rests with each individual website. We offer a wide range of settings that businesses can choose from to enforce their own policies and to help them comply with the laws and guidance of authorities such as Health Canada.

Why Now? I Have Been a Loyal Customer for Years
We understand that some adult customers have bought tobacco products from a website for years without ever having to go through age verification. Legal pressure, the general growth of e-commerce, new products on the market and more have driven the adoption of age verification technology on websites. Proper age verification is not only best practice; it is a legal obligation that is being enforced with increasing frequency for online businesses.

What Information Is Collected?
The age verification process takes place during checkout, when you begin entering your payment and shipping details. Vapepievape.com automatically draws information such as your name and address from your billing details, and requests your date of birth through a pop-up or by email after payment, depending on how the website has configured our plugin.

We use this information to verify your age against our databases of public records and previously verified customers. More than 90% of customers are verified instantly using only their name, address and date of birth, which is why it is important to provide accurate details. This is not simply an age gate on the home page. Entering your date of birth correctly helps us verify you faster and complete your order.

If we cannot verify you instantly, you will be asked to submit a photo ID, which is reviewed manually within a minute. Photo IDs are deleted automatically once verification is complete. If your photo ID is approved, we store your name, address and date of birth securely so that we can recognize you in future and skip the ID request.

The Vapepievape.com customer service team can be reached for checkout support in connection with our age verification app by email at [email protected].

We aim to make age verification on the internet a fast, frictionless process that affects your usual checkout experience as little as possible. Our customer service team is available around the clock to support our website clients and their customers throughout the age verification process.

How Is My Personal Information Protected?
We take privacy and security very seriously. Your personal information, such as your name, address and date of birth, is used only for age verification and is stored solely in our secure database so that we can verify you in future without an ID. Photo IDs are not stored automatically; they are deleted immediately after verification. In some cases you will be asked for your consent to store your photo ID where the website must meet legal requirements. Our handling of personal information is governed by applicable Canadian privacy law, including the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and, where applicable, provincial legislation such as Quebec's Law 25 and the personal information protection statutes of British Columbia and Alberta. For more information, please see our Privacy Policy.