Discord users will soon be required to undergo face scanning to fully access the app, as new age restrictions are implemented.
This trend is becoming more common globally as platforms strive to protect young users.
Similar measures have been adopted by Roblox, Steam, and Twitch, while PornHub introduced ID requirements in the US in 2023 and in the UK previously, resulting in a rise in VPN usage.
Discord will now mandate users to upload images of their government ID to enter age-restricted channels and view ‘sensitive content’.
On Monday (February 9), Discord revealed plans to introduce ‘enhanced teen safety features’ worldwide, aiming for a ‘more inclusive experience for users over 13 years old’.
“As part of this update, all new and existing users worldwide will have a teen-appropriate experience by default, with updated communication settings, restricted access to age-gated spaces, and content filtering that preserves the privacy and meaningful connections that define Discord,” the update detailed.
The ‘phase global rollout’ is set to begin in early March, requiring users to undergo ‘an age-verification process to change certain settings or access sensitive content’. This includes age-restricted channels, servers, or commands and select message requests.
These new measures come after an incident a few months ago when around 70,000 users had their government ID photos ‘exposed’ due to a breach of a third-party service used by Discord for data management.
“Recently, we discovered an incident where an unauthorized party compromised one of Discord’s third-party customer service providers,” Discord stated at that time.
“The unauthorized party then gained access to information from a limited number of users who had contacted Discord through our Customer Support and/or Trust & Safety teams.”
They clarified that while ‘limited billing information such as payment type, the last four digits of your credit card, and purchase history if associated with your account’ and ‘IP addresses’ might have been affected, sensitive details like ‘full credit card numbers or CCV codes’ and ‘passwords or authentication data’ were not compromised.
In the recent age verification update, Discord explained that video selfies used for facial age estimation ‘never leave a user’s device’ and that identity documents submitted to vendor partners are swiftly deleted, usually right after age confirmation.
“In most cases, users complete the process once and their Discord experience adapts to their verified age group. Users may be asked to use multiple methods only when more information is needed to assign an age group,” they added.
The age verification status of users will remain confidential and will not be visible to others.
Discord users took to Reddit to express their views on the data upload requirement, with many opposing the move and some threatening to delete their accounts.
“This will kill Discord,” one user commented, while another said: “Time to switch elsewhere.”
“I’m either going to leave my account on ‘teen appropriate experience’ or I’ll just delete the stupid thing entirely. I barely ever use Discord and this is just stupid,” added a third user.
Feedback from Discord has been sought for further comments.