Yoti, a digital identity verification company, is experiencing rapid growth amid increasing demand for secure and convenient ways to confirm personal information online. Founded to provide a trusted digital ID system, the company’s app enables users to prove their age and identity across a range of settings, including websites, bars, employers, and government agencies.
The firm has seen significant revenue expansion, rising from £6.2 million in 2022 to over £32 million projected in 2025, marking consistent profitability at the EBITDA level since March 2025. Yoti holds approval from the UK government to conduct digital ID checks for the Disclosure and Barring Service, which screens criminal records, as well as for employment eligibility verification.
With 23 million downloads globally, Yoti’s main market remains the UK, but its footprint also extends to Europe, the United States, and Asia. Among its popular features is a facial age estimation tool that uses a photograph to estimate the user’s age, though the company says it immediately deletes images after analysis.
Despite these privacy assurances, some advocacy groups remain skeptical about the handling of biometric data. This tension escalated in March 2026 when Spain’s data protection authority, the Agencia Española de Protección de Datos (AEPD), issued a nearly €1 million fine against Yoti for alleged violations of EU biometric data regulations. Yoti disputed the ruling, deeming it damaging to the company and promptly filed an appeal. Following the dispute, Yoti withdrew its digital ID app from Apple and Android stores in Spain.
Co-founder Robin Tombs emphasizes that Yoti enforces strict internal controls to safeguard customer data, making it inaccessible even to the company’s own technical and marketing teams. This approach, he says, is a deliberate trade-off to prioritize privacy over potential revenue streams derived from user data. “You have to choose between the two, and we chose privacy,” Tombs stated.
The accuracy of Yoti’s facial age estimation technology also raises questions. Observers note the challenge in reliably distinguishing users who are just under or over legal age thresholds, such as those close to turning 18. Industry commentators describe the solution as effective if trustable but acknowledge the inevitable presence of some margin of error. “How many mistakes does it make? And how much are we — as a society — prepared to tolerate in return for a frictionless process?” asked Stanislas Marchand, co-founder of wellness app rocapine.
Tombs acknowledges the limitations but insists the company complies with regulatory standards requiring “reasonable efforts” to ensure the system is secure, reliable, and accurate. As digital identity verification gains broader acceptance, building trust among consumers, businesses, and public bodies remains a central challenge for Yoti and its peers in the emerging market.