After that, Discord decided to roll their feature out globally, forcing everyone to upload their ID, submit a face scan, or lose full access of the features on Discord. Maybe they’re hoping we’d all forget how little they protected their users’ privacy just a few months ago. Obviously, that was not the case, as the internet vehemently reacted.
A growing number of people, especially tech-savvy people like Discord’s users, know ID checks are more likely to put children in danger than to help them. Meanwhile it damages free speech online irreparably, hurting everyone. Internet and privacy experts are speaking out against it, fans of the service who have been using it for years feel betrayed, and we’re all ready for Discord to die if this happens. The tech world is a series of companies and services rising and falling, and if Discord doesn’t want to help make the internet more free and safe, then its users are happy to move on. So here’s what Discord’s doing to every single one of their users now worldwide, regardless of local laws. Perhaps more importantly, here’s how you can leave Discord behind.
In This Article:
Discord’s Age Verification Policies
Discord’s new age verification policies start by defining all users as “teenagers” until they’re proven otherwise. When this is set, users will not be able to unblur “adult” content, will not be able to join age-gated spaces, will have restrictions on DMs and friend requests, and will not be able to speak using the presentation “stages” feature on Discord servers.
Discord has stated that it will mostly affect “adult” content, without clarifying exactly what that is or who would define it. While I don’t know of any, that does seem to imply sex workers are using Discord and these new policies may force people who use Discord for sex work to dox themselves with the platform. Discord’s hand waving, claiming this isn’t a problem because it will primarily affect adult content creators and those who patronize them is dehumanizing. Just because an issue will disproportionately hurt sex workers does not mean it’s a non-issue. Sex workers are human beings, and deserve the same rights and privacy as anyone else. Even so, this issue will affect everyone, not just those using Discord for adult content. The mere existence of such a guideline sets dangerous precedents and restricts free speech.
Assuming Your Age
There are a number of ways to prove the age of a user. First is Discord will “infer” your age based on a few factors, including how long your account has been active, the number and types of devices connected to Discord, data about your use of Discord, and “high-level patterns across Discord communities,” which could be anything.
Discord hasn’t clarified the “patterns” they’re looking for that allows them to assume your age. Have they been looking into servers you’re joining, messages you’ve sent on there, interaction style or length? They haven’t clarified. Whatever it is, they likely remain cautious, so many users may have to face additional age verification to avoid false positives.
Because we don’t know what Discord is using, it may be difficult to fight the age inference, leading to Discord offering the second option, and the one no one wants: IDs and facial scans.
Scans and IDs
Do not give your private information, including your biometrics, address, full name, or any other info, to any company if you can help it. They will almost certainly leak it. They will get hacked, they will have bad actors who purposely spy on users and save info for the people they want to stalk, it will leak. Ask the users of Tea who now face harassment because they used a platform for avoiding potentially abusive partners and that platform leaked all their IDs, addresses, images, and information. Or we can just look to Discord, who leaked the images of tens of thousands of people, and the full IDs of at least 70,000 people.
Do not give them this information.
If Discord can’t infer your age, they’ll ask for a face scan or image of your ID. They claim the face scans don’t leave your device. However, Discord is not open source and has not explained how these work. Does the app have an imaging model that can do age prediction built-in now? How good can that be? It has to be small enough to fit in an app, that’s not going to be detailed enough to do good age prediction. Some people have stated they’ve been able to fool it with various video games and 3D software. This cannot be a good model if it’s only on device, and if anything is sent off to Discord for verification that includes data from that scan, they have some metadata that could potentially identify your face, even if they don’t keep the simulated 3D scan.
We can’t forget the inherent issues with facial recognition either. While Discord’s hasn’t been independently tested or verified, it’s likely that it has the same issues that plague all facial recognition systems. The biggest is that it does not work as well for anyone who is not light skinned and works worse with women and more femme-presenting people than men. Makeup throws them through a loop and women’s faces just aren’t as well scanned. Trans people are also more likely to be misidentified, even with their IDs. Meanwhile others with face tattoos have also experienced problems that break these systems.
Facial recognition systems do not have the same accuracy across different racial groups. This means Discord’s systems will likely use a system that’s easier for white people—especially white men—to use than anyone else. This also means that more non-white people and women will have to give away more of their personal information to Discord than anyone else. Because if the face scan doesn’t work, the only option left is uploading your ID. More marginalized groups will have to upload their IDs than groups with more privilege.
If we consider—rightfully due to their track record—that the face scans are not as secure as Discord claims they will be, they at least may not include all of your identifying data, such as your full name, address, ID numbers, or anything else that could dox you or make you a victim of identity theft. Your ID, however, which is uploaded to Discord and their partners, will make you far more vulnerable. Discord claims that your ID will not be attached to your username, but in their previous leak of those uploaded IDs, it was revealed that the Discord usernames and emails were leaked alongside those IDs.
Discord previously claimed that they would delete the images nearly immediately, while in other posts, stated they could retain them for “up to 7 days.” They have not been clear as to just how long they will hold on to those images, but 70,000 images of IDs leaking proved that Discord may not be able to handle this kind of data. They’re still making the same claim, that these images will be deleted, though they refuse to say how long that will take. Discord also points out that they’ve changed third party partners since that first leak.
Cutting Off Access to Millions
Not everyone has an ID, and not everyone has an ID that may match their current appearance, presentation, gender, or other identifying information. Millions of people do not have government IDs and may not even be able to afford to get them. Communication tools and the right to free speech should never be behind a paywall and should not require extra steps for people in marginalized communities, especially those under threat from their own government. Someone currently worried that ICE could kick down their door is going to be more concerned about uploading their ID than someone who does not have the same fears.
People need anonymity to speak freely, such as people in marginalized communities where their sexuality, gender, religion, or race could make them targets of abuse or persecution. These people are more likely to require additional screening due to the tactics Discord is using.
Discord expects to lose users, believing they can win them back. But who wants to go back to a service that considers them expendable?
Discord Distrust and the Link Between Discord and Epstein
Yes, that Epstein. Because one of the new third party tools Discord reportedly used in early experiments with ID uploads, Persona, has links through an investment fund to Palantir’s Peter Thiel, who is in the Epstein files and has strong ties to the Trump administration. Thiel’s Founders Fund is also linked to other companies in the same way, including SpaceX, AirBNB, OpenAI, and Polymarket. While Persona points out that no one on their board is involved with Palantir and Peter Thiel is only a backer through his investment firm, not directly in charge of anything at the company, the connection has, understandably, left many feeling uncomfortable. After all, who wants anyone linked in any way to Epstein doing age verification?
Discord says that Persona was part of a “limited test,” and has removed the information regarding that experiment from their website. They told Kotaku in a statement that their use of Person had concluded, but has made no clarification if they would work with them in the future, what data they collected or accessed, or why they collected that data.
Discord has not done much to assure trust. They have not been transparent about the tools they’re using or measures taken to ensure anonymity. After leaking 70,000 IDs, or more, “trust me, bro” isn’t going to cut it. Explain the entire process and show the code, because nothing they’ve done thus far has made anyone concerned about privacy feel safe giving Discord their personal information. Nothing short of a completely open approach would work.
There is a Somewhat Private Way to Do This, But it’s Still Dangerous and No One is Motivated to Protect You
There could be more secure ways to do this in conjunction with governments. Perhaps because this identifying data is so valuable, companies have not suggested it. However, if a company allowed users to hash the information on their IDs, not sharing the actual images of them ever, encrypt traffic to a government verification service that would simply check if the hashes match those in a dataset of adult hashed IDs, then the verification process could better lock out middlemen, the apps asking for IDs.
It’s not perfect. Those keys could leak forcing governments to re-hash all of their IDs, generate new encryption keys, and update the SDKs used to create the hashed versions of identifying information, but it’s far better than anything that’s in use now. If your goal is to collect and expose data or track people online, you wouldn’t want more secure methods of verifying ages. Perhaps that’s why we haven’t seen a push for better obfuscation of this data from corporations or governments.
You’d still need to ensure the government can’t track what hashed ID data is checked or where those checks come from, but it’s far better than allowing this data to be collected by anyone. If protecting children online was the goal, privacy would be a top concern. But no one involved in these ID laws or the corporations implementing them really care about protecting anyone’s privacy. These laws, even if implemented perfectly, still create barriers to free expression and generate fear in doing so, and it seems that’s a key reason for them. There’s no way to safely implement ID laws without invading privacy and discouraging free speech online.
Stop Using Discord.
ID checks make everyone less safe. A company that has already proven that they do not take privacy seriously enough is asking for more data, and is painfully obfuscating the processes they’re using to verify ages. The internet is older than me. I’ve seen it grow and change from being wild to the corporate, cleansed, moderated, controlled, and tracked version of communication it is today. I’ve seen it corrupted by greed and power. The internet has only become worse, and, with ID verification becoming standard, it will never be able to improve. This is one of the nails in the coffin for the free net.
We’ve already seen what happens when IDs are uploaded to services like this. They get leaked, whether it’s Tea or Discord, that information might as well be public when it’s shared, and that endangers everyone. Even if it’s not leaked, we will create a system where it’s easy to link accounts to real identities, now or in the future, for better advertising. If there’s a way to profit more from something, corporations will do it. Even if Discord isn’t collecting this data now, as they claim, there’s no promise that they or someone else may not in the future. They’ll be able to use “age verification” to finally de-anonymize the internet for profit, and that’s been a goal of advertisers for decades.
Do you think you won’t have your privacy breached just because you don’t upload your information? Due to social graphs, it’s easy to figure out the identity of someone in a social group if others give their information. It’s why Facebook can figure out “people you may know” even if you don’t upload your contacts to Facebook. Others do, and if they’re linked to you, you’ll be exposed too.
If we continue to use Discord, we normalize this invasive and dangerous behavior. That’ll shape what data children feel safe sharing online, and could lead to the identities of kids being less safe. If we make privacy online something that is no longer the norm, kids will endanger themselves.
On top of that, you force people who must to use Discord, such as those using it for work, to verify their accounts. I’ve been in AMAs with developers of video games who used the stage feature. I’ve been in group chats with people online that included people there for work doing customer service. No one should have to endanger their privacy to make a living, especially not in a shrinking job market. No one should have to give up their own security for work. But if we keep using Discord, we create that demand, and they’ll have to potentially expose sensitive data to do their jobs.
Discord says this will mostly apply to “adult” content as though sex workers aren’t human beings who deserve the same privacy and security as everyone else. Their process could be more invasive for members of marginalized groups who already feel unsafe in their communities and may only feel safe in the anonymity of online discussion. We can’t normalize creation of “less equal” areas of the internet.
If we don’t abandon Discord, we’re letting them dehumanize sex workers, endanger children and adults alike, put marginalized groups at heightened risk, and normalizing these invasive anti-privacy and anti-free speech policies. We simply cannot allow that to happen.
We have to abandon Discord, otherwise other companies will see they can do this to their users and will do it elsewhere. If we allow this to become normalized in safe spaces, it can take over the entire internet. If that happens, we can kiss security and free speech online goodbye forever.
Where to Go
Unfortunately, we allowed the web to become so centralized. Much in the way capitalism breeds monopolies, the internet has consolidated power, perhaps for the same reason. It used to be when you’d search for something niche, you could find a forum that had the information you wanted. Now that’s usually just Reddit. Want to talk to a group of people? You used to have forums, AIM, and a variety of chat services. Now we’ve been funneled into Discord. But there are other options. We can keep the web open. While there aren’t a ton of good standards-based communities akin to Mastodon, where you never have to hitch yourself to one company or organization, there are numerous options to choose from. Here’s a little info on a few Discord alternatives you may want to check out.
Signal
Signal has group chats and video calls. It’s encrypted end to end and you can make it an incredibly private place to have conversations. It is, however, mostly tailored for one-on-one communication and small group chats. Still, if Discord is mostly a group chat for your friends, it might be a worthy replacement.
Matrix
Matrix is a secure, open network platform focused on decentralization, open source, and encryption. You can host your own instance and have the most private chat group imaginable. There are even a few open-sourced clients that use it, so you aren’t even locked into an app to use it. You can learn more about it via their documentation. It’s admittedly not as easy to start a server, but you can find places to chat, test the waters, and see if you want to stick with it or use it in your own networks.
Stoat (Previously Revolt)
Stoat, previously called “Revolt” has been one of the most popular options for communities leaving Discord. A number of Discord server operators have already expressed their intention to move to Stoat, and it already has a number of niche public servers. It’s open-source and does not currently require users to upload any identifying information. You can even self-host it, which is perfect for small groups of friends and large corporations looking to have their own chat servers.
Currently they may be a little overloaded with interest, but if they can scale with it, it could be an excellent Discord replacement.
Teamspeak
Teamspeak is a classic. Before Discord, it was the place for organizing online gameplay. It’s still around and, while text chat isn’t the best, may be able to replace voice chat if you’re using Discord for that. You can even run your own virtual server. However, for more users, you will have to reach out to them for pricing. You can join many existing servers though.
Root
Root has a familiar Discord-like interface and a number of similar features. It’s not open-sourced though, it’s closed and centralized, which means it could have the same issues as Discord one day. Still, it doesn’t have those issues yet, so it may be an option for moving your group chat over to Root.
GameVox
GameVox has a simple interface to quickly spin up and start using voice chat with friends. It doesn’t require anything but a username, not even an email or phone number, and is free for up to 50 people. While it’s primarily focused on voice chat, it also has video, text chat, file sharing, and in-game integrations. It’s currently in an open beta, but you can sign up and start using it now.
Make a Better Web
God, I miss independent forums. Remember forums? You could go on them, talk, your accounts wouldn’t be linked between forums, you could chat with anyone, upload content that was easily searchable and served as a knowledgebase as you made it. Forums, were decentralized, anonymous, and exactly what the web was supposed to be, a place where knowledge could spread and be archived. Before profit and adware tracking got involved.
If you’re in favor of these laws, remember grocery stores sell spicy magazines and alcohol, so perhaps you should have to present ID at the door and leave the kids at home. Actually, if the corner store has cigarettes, we should keep kids outside there too. And pharmacies may have drugs that are unsafe if chugged, and kids might do that, so, yup, keep them outside with an ID check. And, once they check the ID, they should scan it and sell it to advertisers. Why not make a little money off those ID checks? This doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, does it? You can recognize how damaging it is when given a real world example, why is it so hard to understand it in the digital space? Imagine locking the right to free speech or learning behind those ID walls. Imagine abuse survivors not being able to rind helpful resources because they can’t pass an age verification check. We know all too well how often children are the victims of that abuse. They seek help online and won’t be able to access it. The web is becoming closed and more difficult to access, and we have to put a stop to it.
Let’s work together to keep the web open and free. Discord is a symptom of a much larger problem online, but as they work to advance to make the web worse, we can work to make it better. We can leave parenting to parents, as we always have done. There are no new dangers here, no reason to do this now. The internet has enjoyed popularity and safety for three decades without these measures, it will continue to do so if we take care of it. If we make the internet about privacy, security, and freedom, we can keep it safe and ensure it’s a valuable resource for people all over the world. The easiest way to do that is to refuse to use services that work to keep it closed, restricted, and unsafe.
Sources
- Rindala Alajaji and Samantha Baldwin, EFF
- Askley Belanger, Ars Technica
- Steve Bonifield, The Verge
- Lincoln Carpenter, PC Gamer
- Gamer Nexus, via YouTube
- Zack Kotzer, Kotaku
- Kyle Kucharski, ZD Net
- Aisha Malik, TechCrunch
- Charlie Osborne, ZD Net