Entrupy authentication has come to TikTok

Social media platform TikTok has started working with product authentication specialist Entrupy in a bid to prevent the sale of counterfeits on its new e-commerce platform TikTok Shop.

The explosive growth of TikTok, which now has a user base estimated at around 1.5bn, has made it a magnet for product promotion and marketing campaigns but also a source of counterfeits. That has sparked concerns that TikTok Shop – which officially launched in the US in September after months in beta mode and a rollout in Asia – could become an avenue for knock-off products.

The marketplace is integrated into the TikTok app, a bit like the approach taken by other social media networks like Instagram and Facebook which are also getting negative press for being used to promote fake goods.

Partnering with Entrupy is an attempt by the Chinese social media company to build trust in TikTok Shop as it tries to build a following for its retail platform.

The alliance will initially see Entrupy’s technology used to authenticate luxury handbags from luxury brands such as Burberry, Chanel, Hermès, and Prada, according to a Business Insider report on the partnership, and may be expanded to include other product categories later.

Anyone who intends to resell these items will have to show they are genuine, either using Entrupy’s service or third-party authenticator Real Authentication.

Entrupy’s system uses a combination of artificial intelligence and microscopy to objectively assess the authenticity of an item.

The item is scanned using a microscopy device that attaches to a smartphone and app, and a set of images is collected and analysed by machine learning algorithms that have been trained on millions of images from authentic and counterfeit samples.

Based on the results of this comparison, the system will either verify the item’s authenticity or return an “unverified” result, and each scan helps to train the AI to become more effective, according to the company, which claims a 99 per cent accuracy rate.