Days after announcing unpopular plans to age-lock accounts, Discord has made some clarifications about its "age assurance update," reiterating that "facial scans never leave your device," IDs are "deleted" after getting your age, and a lot of the time it knows who its adult users are because of the "advanced" AI model it's developed to predict folks' ages. That last part feels like it might raise more questions than answers.
Earlier this week, Discord announced that "teen-by-default" settings are rolling out for all users worldwide, as part of its "long-standing commitment to creating a safer and more inclusive experience for users over the age of 13." This means that by default, amongst other things, users will be unable to access age-restricted channels and unblur sensitive content, and direct messages from people you might not know will be "routed to a separate inbox." You can't change these settings without being an "age-assured adult."
