UK Discord users have raised concerns about the company’s new age verification processes, claiming that while it had originally promised that “video selfies submitted for facial age estimation will never leave a user’s device”, a change in service provider allegedly now suggests otherwise.
Discord announced its new “teen-by-default” approach to its platform last week, revealing that age-verification will be a mandatory requirement for all users around the globe in order to access certain settings, channels, and “sensitive content.” Beginning in early March, Discord will implement a “phased global rollout” of a new update designed to give all new and existing users worldwide a “teen-appropriate experience” by default. Once live, users will be required to undergo age verification – either via facial age estimation or by submitting a form of identification – in order to access certain features.
Building on changes previously rolled out to users in Australia and the UK, without age verification, users will be unable to bypass sensitive content filters, and will not be able to access age-gated channels, servers, or app commands, speak on Discord server stages, or access messages sent to their inbox from people they do not know.
Originally, Discord said that video selfies submitted for facial age estimation will never leave a user’s device, and insists all identification documents submitted to its vendor partners for processing will be “deleted quickly” – “in most cases, immediately after age confirmation”.
Now, however, users in the UK have noted that Discord’s FAQ advises British users that they “may be part of an experiment” where your information will be processed by age-assurance vendor, Persona. Instead of your selfie “never leaving your device”, the information you submit will now “be temporarily stored for up to 7 days, then deleted”. It does, however, insist that “all details are blurred except your photo and date of birth, so only what’s truly needed for age verification is used”.
As PC Gamer posits, we’re not entirely sure why Discord deviated from its initial plan, but suggested it may be due to the fact that users have worked out how to cheese its other age verification partner, k-ID. But while explicit assurances are given that Discord and k-ID “do not permanently store personal identity documents or your video selfies, and the video selfie used for facial age estimation never leaves your device,” no such assurances can be given to users funnelled into the Persona “experiment”.
That’s not all, though; some users are also unhappy not just with the age verification process itself and the security of their data, but also the people bankrolling Persona, which includes the investment fund of Palantir founder, Peter Thiel. Palantir is the data and surveillance company currently used by US federal agencies, including ICE, and Thiel’s name appears 2000+ times in the Epstein files.
Eurogamer has reached out to Discord for comment.
Back in October, a third-party customer service system used by Discord’s support teams was hacked, compromising some user personal data, including government IDs.