Discord Wants Your Government ID to Keep the Kids Safe
It looks like the days of anonymous shitposting in your private servers are coming to an unceremonious end.
I have been dreading this day. For years, Discord has been the last bastion of somewhat private, easy-to-access community chatting. It replaced Skype, it buried TeamSpeak, and it became the default way I talk to my friends. But the platform just announced a global rollout of its "Teen-by-Default" settings, and the fine print is a privacy nightmare wrapped in a "think of the children" bow. Starting in early March, Discord isn't just asking for your birthday anymore. If you want to access age-gated servers or even view sensitive content, you are going to have to prove you are an adult. And their preferred methods involve a video selfie or a government ID.
The "Teen-by-Default" Experience
Here is the pitch from San Francisco. In an effort to make the internet safer for the under-18 crowd, Discord is treating everyone like a teenager until proven otherwise. This is rolling out globally after a trial run in the UK and Australia.
If the system suspects you are a minor, or if you try to change certain settings, you hit a wall. You want to see an age-restricted channel? Verify. You want to receive a DM from a stranger? Verify. The platform is introducing an "age inference model" that runs in the background. It analyzes your behavior to guess how old you are. If the algorithm thinks you are twelve, good luck convincing it otherwise without coughing up some biometric data.
The update introduces a few key restrictions for anyone not verified as an adult:
Content Filters: You cannot unblur sensitive content.
Gated Spaces: No access to 18+ servers or channels.
Stage Ban: You cannot speak on stage in servers.
DM Filtering: Messages from strangers go to a separate inbox.
The Privacy Problem
Discord claims this is "Privacy-Forward Age Assurance." They promise that video selfies for facial estimation are processed on your device and never leave it. They also promise that IDs submitted to their "vendor partners" are deleted quickly.
I am sorry, but I don't buy it.
Trust is a currency, and Discord is currently overdrawn. This announcement comes awkwardly soon after reports of a significant data breach involving a third-party verification partner that allegedly leaked 70,000 IDs. The audacity to ask for my driver's license a few months after a fiasco like that is impressive.
The company says they are using an "age inference model" to check if you are an adult without "always" requiring verification. That is vague enough to be terrifying. It means an AI is constantly watching how you type, what you click, and who you talk to, building a profile to determine your maturity level. If it flags you, you have two choices: submit to a face scan or lose access to the features you have used for years.
A Seat at the Kids' Table
To make this pill easier to swallow, they are launching a "Teen Council." This is exactly what it sounds like. A group of 10-12 teenagers who will advise Discord on how to run the platform.
While I am sure the intentions are noble, I can't help but feel this is window dressing for the massive data harvest operation happening in the background. They are recruiting teens to help shape policy, which sounds great on paper, but it doesn't change the fact that adult users are being squeezed into a corner.
My Line in the Sand
I have seen platforms rise and fall based on how they treat their core user base. Gamers built Discord. We built it because we wanted a place to hang out away from the prying eyes of data-hungry giants like Facebook or the clunkiness of Skype.
Now, Discord is demanding I scan my face to view a meme in a private server.
I refuse. I will not upload my ID to a chat app. I will not scan my face for a company that cannot guarantee my data won't end up on a dark web forum next week. If this is the new normal, I am out. I will go back to TeamSpeak. I will use Steam Chat. Hell, I might even set up an IRC server. But I am not giving Discord my passport.
