Pokémon to use face scanning at shops in Japan to tackle card scalping

Pokémon cards are collected and played with by millions of people around the world.

But, some new card sets have become so popular that they sell out very quickly and this has led to a problem called scalping.

Scalping is when someone buys products that are in high demand, not because they want to use them, but so they can sell them later at a much higher price. For example, a person might buy several Pokémon card boxes as soon as they are released and then resell them online for much more money. This can make it harder and more expensive for fans to buy the cards they want.

In Japan, popular Pokémon card releases can attract long queues and sell out quickly. Earlier this year, The Pokémon Company introduced identity checks at official stores, requiring customers to show government-issued identification before buying some products.

Now, the company is going further at five temporary Pokémon Card Store locations in the country. Customers who are of elementary school age or older will have their faces scanned when entering the store and receiving an entry ticket.

In Japan,"elementary school age" usually means children aged about 6 to 12.

Facial recognition is a type of technology that uses images of a person's face to help identify them. It is already used in some places like airports for security and identity checks.

According to a notice on pokemon-card.com, the system is being introduced "to provide a safe and secure shopping environment for all customers, to prevent crime, and to ensure compliance with appropriate entry and purchase rules." The company says it will use facial recognition to check whether a customer has already entered the store or received a ticket that day.

The notice states that entry is limited to "one time per day (one ticket)" for each person. It also says that if the system detects that someone has entered more than once or received multiple tickets, "entry will be denied to that person based on the system's judgement."

The Pokémon Company says it will collect facial image data and information about the number of times a customer has entered the store. According to the notice, this information will be managed securely and "promptly deleted after a certain period of time."