Discord Tries To Walk Back Age Verification Panic, Says Most Users Won't Need Face Scans
5 122Discord has moved to calm a user backlash over its upcoming age verification mandate by clarifying that the "vast majority" of people will never be asked to confirm their age through a face scan or government ID.
The platform said it will instead rely on an internal "age prediction" model that draws on account information, device and activity data, and behavioral patterns across its communities to estimate whether someone is an adult. Users whose age the model cannot confidently determine will still need to submit a video selfie or ID.
Those not verified as adults or identified as under 18 will be placed in a "teen-appropriate" experience that blocks access to age-restricted servers and channels. The clarification came after users threatened to leave the platform and cancel Nitro subscriptions, and after a third-party vendor used by Discord for age verification suffered a data breach last year that exposed user information and a small number of uploaded ID cards.
5 comments
Discord has 2 targets on its back (Score: 5, Insightful)
by NotEmmanuelGoldstein ( 6423622 ) on Wednesday February 11, 2026 @04:28AM (#65981848)
The reality is, "know your customer" and "think of the children" causes identity theft: The effect upon criminals is minimal. Because it's moved criminal intent from an individual cheating the system, to a corporation of serfs moving illegal goods.
Discord is a target of 'child safety' spyware demanded by the governments of the world, and a target of users who realize Discord tracking them, makes them a victim.
Re:Discord has 2 targets on its back (Score: 5, Informative)
by Ilove_Noname ( 8919879 ) on Wednesday February 11, 2026 @06:43AM (#65981934)
Please remember that Discord is a US Company and as such are subject to FISA court orders. Even if discord says we triple pinky swear promise we don't keep anything, if they have a FISA Court order telling them they must do so and on top of that are not allowed to disclose that they are or that they were ordered to then you really have no way of knowing what discord does with the data do you? Plenty and I mean plenty of companies were issued fisa court orders, and it just re-enforces the status quo, once placed online the data is out of your hands and control.
Re:Discord has 2 targets on its back (Score: 5, Informative)
by Entrope ( 68843 ) on Wednesday February 11, 2026 @06:59AM (#65981936)
Concern over FISA orders in situations like this is way overblown. You should be concerned about orders available in any lawsuit, like OpenAI being ordered to hand over lots of its chat logs in the NYT copyright lawsuit. You should be concerned about sales of access to information, like Facebook and Cambridge Analytica. You should be concerned about compromise of material in a jack by criminals or a nation-state. Unless you are a terrorist or foreign intelligence asset, the risk of those dwarfs the risk that a FISA order will compromise your data.
What about the highly effective assurance? (Score: 5, Interesting)
by devslash0 ( 4203435 ) on Wednesday February 11, 2026 @04:49AM (#65981860)
Most countries that introduced age verification requirements state that verification must be "highly effective". Would this predictive profiling be enough in the court of law?
Re:Same with Roblox. Why do they need selfies? (Score: 5, Insightful)
by allo ( 1728082 ) on Wednesday February 11, 2026 @05:31AM (#65981888)
No method (regardless how clever) and solve the root problem: A child can ask its 18 year old friend to unlock the account.
You can find ways to prove age, but there are no reasonable ways to prove the current user is the person who proved to be 18+