Discord delays global age verification rollout after privacy backlash

Discord is pushing back its planned global age verification requirement. The company now says the wider rollout will happen later this year, not in March as previously announced, following heavy criticism over privacy and data collection.

In a blog post, Discord co-founder and CTO Stanislav Vishnevskiy said the company didn’t explain the plan clearly enough, which led many users to think Discord was about to demand face scans or ID uploads from everyone. He says that’s not the intent, and claims “over 90%” of users won’t have to verify their age to keep using Discord the same way they do now.

Discord’s approach, according to Vishnevskiy, relies partly on internal safety systems that can make an “age determination” for many adult users without any action on their part. He also said Discord will publish the methodology behind that system in a technical blog post before the global launch.

For people who do need to verify, Discord says it plans to add more options, including credit card verification, and offer more transparency about the vendors involved before the rollout resumes.

The delay comes after reports that Discord ran a limited age verification test in the UK with Persona last month. Vishnevskiy said Discord has decided not to move forward with Persona, and that any data collected in the test was deleted after verification. He also said Discord’s new requirement for facial age estimation partners is that it must happen entirely on-device, so biometric data doesn’t leave your phone, and that Persona didn’t meet that bar.

Vishnevskiy also referenced last October’s customer service breach affecting 70,000 users who may have had government ID photos exposed, saying that vendor isn’t used for age assurance and Discord no longer works with them.