Discord and Persona end partnership after shady UK age test sparks outcry

Discord recently found itself under intense scrutiny after announcing a shift to default all users to teen experiences until their ages have been verified. This decision sparked immediate backlash, particularly regarding the platform’s intention to collect more government identification as part of its global age verification initiative. Many users were taken aback by Discord’s bold move, especially following a recent incident where a breach at a former age check partner compromised the government IDs of 70,000 Discord users. In an effort to calm concerns, Discord stated that most users would not need to provide identification directly. Instead, they proposed using video selfies analyzed by AI technology to estimate users' ages, which has raised additional privacy issues. The platform hinted that future behavioral signals might reduce the need for age verification altogether, seemingly downplaying the potential risks associated with the handling of sensitive data. Despite these reassurances, Discord acknowledged its plan to continue requesting IDs from users who dispute an age assessment. This approach troubled many, as it mirrors the circumstances surrounding the previous data breach. Savannah Badalich, Discord’s global head of product policy, emphasized that most ID data would be deleted promptly, typically immediately after age verification. The backlash intensified when Discord posted, then hastily removed, a disclaimer on an FAQ page regarding its age assurance policies. This disclaimer contradicted earlier claims about the duration of ID storage. An archived version of the page revealed a warning stating: "Important: If you’re located in the UK, you may be part of an experiment where your information will be processed by an age-assurance vendor, Persona. The information you submit will be temporarily stored for up to 7 days, then deleted. For ID document verification, all details are blurred except your photo and date of birth, so only what’s truly needed for age verification is used." Critics argued that Discord was not only obscuring the storage duration of IDs but also the identity of the entities involved in data collection. Furthermore, Discord did not clarify the specifics of the experiment or the number of users impacted, and Persona was not officially recognized as a partner on the platform.