FDA Age Calculator

With the “FDA Age Calculator,” retailers can use their personal smartphones to help determine if the purchaser is old enough under federal law to buy tobacco products. Using the camera feature on a smartphone, the app is able to scan the driver’s license of the purchaser to determine if the customer is at least 18 years of age (the federal minimum age to buy a tobacco product). The birthdate listed on the photo id can also be manually entered into the app by the retailer for a quick age calculation. This application does not transmit or share this information or save the information on the user’s device or a third party or government server.

Category	Price	Seller	Device
Utilities	Free	Food and Drug Administration	iPhone, iPad, iPod

Reviews

Need to update for minimum age of 21.
desilucky

I’m in Maryland and the minimum age became 21 to purchase tobacco products. At least give us an option...

Doesn’t work
whythkr

Do not rely on this app.

The scanner doesn’t work
emily1233456678900

I open the scanner to scan my id to test but it doesn’t get me anywhere, keep saying put the id in the picture frame and do nothing

It’s just wrong...
Toristorii

They can’t even keep up with their own rules, yet they expect us to. The app doesn’t work at all any more since they changed the age overnight and can’t be bothered to update their app. I’m sure that won’t be an excuse when they busy someone for selling cigs to a 19-year-old.

It doesn’t seem fair
Ezio3141

To be 19, having been using nicotine for almost 4 years now, the damage is done. You tried and failed fda. I deserve to be grandfathered in; 18 year olds were allowed to buy alcohol after they changed the age to 21.

It doesn't work!
Smashton818

iPhone 6sPlus. It scans a card and does nothing at all. Make it work and let us choose front facing camera!

Mediocre At Best
Mr. TadWick

First few times I tried it, the camera would just close without scanning then ID and would then go back to the main screen. Worked intermittently the next 5 times I tested it. I see in the settings that you should be able to change the age limit (19+ here in Utah), but it doesn't do anything when you try and click on it. This app is useless to everyone in Utah (and several other states) until you fix that.

Total waste
Garden Yeti

I could calculate faster with pen and paper. Thank you government for wasting our tax dollars on this useless pos. Somebody should be held responsible for this.

Works great
BuffyBot2013

This works great for me. Nifty little tool.

Works good but could be so much better
ehotwill

This is a very useful tool and takes the guesswork out of actually inputting the dates which could also potentially lead to an error. It’s very simple and easy to use, but why stop there. Can’t they just show the age of the ID being scanned? It would be useful for alcohol sales as well. If FDA reads these reviews PLEASE consider just showing the age of the ID being scanned.