Discord relaunches age verification, removes mandatory selfie and ID requirements

In February this year, Discord announced plans to implement an age-verification system for all accounts. This would require all accounts to verify their actual age by submitting a video selfie or some form of government ID. This sparked massive outrage across the Internet, with many expressing concerns about data privacy, despite Discord’s repeated assurances that it wouldn't store the data.

After the backlash, Discord reversed its decision, but not entirely, saying it would revise the age verification system. On September 22, Discord’s co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, Stanislav Vishnevskiy, announced in a blog post that Discord would be bringing back the age verification system, albeit with some major alterations.

Discord’s New Age Verification Algorithm

Discord now estimates a user’s age based on their account’s creation date and the servers they're part of. Based on these estimates, Discord groups users into three age groups:

·         Adult Age Group: The adult age group (18+), so nothing changes for these users.

·         Teen Age Group: The teen age group (13-17), which has additional protections. Content and settings meant for adults won't be available. Otherwise, Discord works the same.

·         Unconfirmed: Cases where Discord doesn't have enough information yet to place users in an age group, so content and settings meant for adults aren't available until they go through age verification. New accounts remain in an 'unconfirmed' state until Discord has enough information to determine an age group. They can keep using Discord without taking any action, but to access age-restricted content, spaces, and settings, they need to complete age verification.

Discord’s New Age Verification Methods

For the new age verification, Discord now offers the following methods, along with the original government ID and video selfie option. The availability of these methods varies by region and device being used:

·         Credit Cards: The user inputs their card information, and k-ID routes the details to Stripe to confirm the card is owned and authorized by an adult. Neither k-ID nor Discord ever sees the card details. Stripe saves the last 4 digits of card numbers after the check because of their legal obligation as a payment processor. A small temporary charge may be placed to confirm the card is valid, which is then refunded within 14 business days.

·         Apple App Store: Allow Apple to share the user’s age range with Discord to help determine whether they're an adult or teen. Their exact birthdate won't be shared, only their age group.

·         Google Play Store: Allow Google Play to share the user’s age range with Discord to help determine whether they're an adult or teen. The user’s exact birthdate won't be shared, only their age group.

·         Google Wallet: Confirms the user’s age using the ID pass already set up in Google Wallet, based on their passport. The ID details stay with Google. (Currently, Google Wallet only supports passports from Brazil, Singapore, Taiwan, the UK, and the United States.)

·         AgeKey: A reusable age credential that is set up once and can be used across various services, so users don't need to reconfirm on multiple platforms.

Discord’s New Underage User Safety Measures

If a person whose age is unconfirmed or a teenager is using Discord, these are some changes that they will have to adjust to:

·         Who can reach out: Messages from non-friends go to your message requests inbox so users can review them first. Turning this off requires confirmation that the user is an adult. Users will also get an alert before accepting a friend request from someone they don't share mutual friends or a small server with. This won’t impact people they already talk to. It only changes how we handle messages and requests from people you don't know.

·         What can and can’t be seen: Sensitive images identified by our sensitive content filters are blurred or blocked depending on where they appear. Age-restricted servers, channels, and age-restricted bot commands aren't accessible. Changing any of this requires confirming that the user is an adult.

·         What others can see: The user’s full profile details and activity, like what game they're playing, are visible only to friends and people in smaller servers they're part of. This can be adjusted at any time. This applies only to teenage users; users with unconfirmed ages will not have this measure applied.