Show-Me ID App Helping Cashiers and Bouncers Ferret Out False IDs
When you were a teenager or an underage to drink college student did you have a false ID or did you maybe use an older sibling's "lost" ID to get you into bars or pick up a six-pack at the liquor store? It was kind of commonplace back in my day, although I just started working for a radio station, and most bartenders and club bouncers thought I was 21 with my bushy beard so I never got asked for an ID. That was the early 90s, and we've come a long way from bouncers eyeballing an ID to determine whether it was fake or not.
Take for example the Missouri Department of Alcohol and Tobacco Control's free Show-Me ID app. The app is free and can be downloaded on a phone. It's designed to help alcohol and tobacco retailers, and I would assume, restaurants and bars to check IDs to make sure they're real.
Since the app was released in April 2021 the app has scanned over 840,000 IDs, and around 80% of the apps scanned have been valid IDs possessed by those old enough to purchase alcohol and tobacco products. 17% of the IDs scanned have come up unreadable or invalid, which is an indicator of a counterfeit ID.
The Show-Me ID app doesn't store information from the IDs scanned into it, is free, and can be downloaded on a cellphone for free. It can be downloaded from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store.
While those underage folks who have a false ID probably aren't happy with the app, I suspect those cashiers and bouncers tasked with keeping alcohol and smokes out of underage hands probably like that their job is a little bit easier.