Discord, the extremely popular and free-to-use communication app that's been a mainstay for gamers and other communities for over a decade, has announced that it's delaying the global rollout for its age verification requirements and "Teen-by-Default" policy until "the second half of 2026," meaning the update won't come until the start of July at the earliest.
The news — delivered by chief technology officer Stanislav Vishnevskiy in a new blog post — comes after weeks of widespread scathing backlash from users around the world, and after searches for "Discord alternatives" surged 10,000%. Clearly, many aren't comfortable with the idea of submitting videos of themselves or their government-issued ID to prove they're not a teen so they can continue accessing age-restricted channels.
Despite assurances from Discord that personal data never leaves your device and is deleted immediately once your age is verified, trust in the platform is at an all-time low after a hack exposed the personal data of 70,000 users last October. Discord no longer works with the third-party vendor responsible, but even so, it's easy to see why users are skeptical of its security.
Discord also recently cut ties with Persona, a verification software used by Roblox and Reddit that's backed by Peter Thiel after connections to U.S. government surveillance were discovered. Discord says it ran a test with Persona in the UK only in January, and decided to drop it afterwards.
Discord has noted that for the full rollout of its age requirements later this year will utilize "non-identifying systems" that only verify your age and not your identity, including credit card verification. You may also not need to verify at all, as Discord has an "internal system that works to accurately determine your age." This, Discord says, will cover "90%+ of users."
To comply with specific age verification laws currently in effect in the UK and Australia and soon coming to Brazil, though, Discord has to rely on facial age estimation and/or ID checks in these regions specifically.
It's also promised to completely document every verification vendor it works with on its website, and says users will have multiple vendors to choose from, with Discord promising to make it clear "who each vendor is, what method they use, and how they handle your data."
Discord says "Every vendor we work with goes through a security and privacy review before integration," and explains that this includes "contractual limits on data use, and strict retention and deletion requirements." Any information submitted for verification is "stored only for the minimum time necessary, which in most cases means it's deleted immediately."
Ultimately, the move away from facial age estimation and ID checks wherever possible is a clear step in the right direction, though it's unfortunate that region-specific laws are forcing Discord to use these verification methods in certain countries. Still, a win is a win.
"We've made mistakes. I won't pretend we haven't. And I know that being a bigger company now means our mistakes have bigger consequences and erode trust faster. I don't expect one blog post to fix that," Vishnevskiy wrote. "Trust is earned through actions over time: shipping the things we promised, owning it when we miss the mark, and giving you real control over your own experience."
"We’re listening. We'll get this right. And when we ship, you'll be able to see for yourselves," he added.
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