At this point, the implementation of age verification systems in online spaces is inevitable. Following several other platforms, Discord has announced that it will require all users to verify their age for full access to the app. This requirement comes as a part of its new enhanced teen safety features, which will begin rolling out internationally next month.
In a statement, the company explained that this teen-by-default approach was first launched in the UK and Australia last year. This gradual global rollout will see all new and existing users have a “teen-appropriate experience” by default, with all the relevant restrictions in place.
What are the new default settings?
As per the statement, sensitive content will be blurred by default. To unblur the content, users must be confirmed as adults. Other than that, only adult users may turn off these content filters. Naturally, access to age-gated spaces will be limited to those who are “age-assured as adults”, as the company puts it. These include age-restricted channels, servers, and app commands. In addition to this, only adults will be allowed to speak on stage in servers.
Furthermore, these safety settings will extend to message and friend requests. Direct messages from strangers will be sent to a separate inbox, and only adult users may modify this setting. Finally, users will receive warning prompts for friend requests from strangers.
The age verification process
Currently, the messaging platform offers some options. Firstly, users can use facial age estimation, which involves uploading a video selfie. The alternative is to submit some form of identification document to Discord’s vendor partners. For now, these are the only available methods, but the company mentioned that it will introduce other means of verification later.
Aside from that, Discord is planning to implement an age inference model. According to the company, this system will run in the background to check whether the user is an adult without needing them to go through the verification process. It is worth noting that Discord may prompt the user to use multiple methods if it needs more information.
Regardless of the chosen option, users will receive confirmation of their assigned age group via a direct message from the Discord official account. The assigned age group will be available in the “My Account” settings. Here, the user can appeal their assigned age by redoing the verification process.
Privacy concerns
Of course, Discord insists that its system is secure, with the adequate protections in place. Among the key features include on-device processing for video selfies. Moreover, the company assures that identity documents are deleted immediately after confirmation. And despite noting that multiple methods may be required, the company claims that most users will only need to verify their ages once. Finally, the user’s age verification status cannot be seen by others.
While this all sounds fine and dandy, the company does not exactly have a clean track record when it comes to privacy. Back in October, roughly 70,000 user photo IDs were stolen in a data breach. Though to be fair, the breach did not involve Discord directly, but rather a third-party vendor. The company has since stopped working with this vendor.
Either way, mandatory age verification is coming to the platform. Or at least, it is mandatory for those who don’t want to lose access to all those NSFW channels.
(Source: Discord [Newsroom])
