Discord testing users’ ages – and patience – with verification via selfies
As the worrying wave of age verification online is being pushed by regulators across multiple jurisdictions, popular communication platform Discord has confirmed it's testing a controversial method to verify users’ ages.
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Discord is testing AI-powered age verification using selfies and government-issued IDs.
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The trial uses Incode's facial age estimation technology and is running during June and July.
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Discord says selfies stay on users' devices and verification data is deleted after the check.
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Privacy advocates warn that biometric verification carries long-term privacy and security risks.
Users online are already abuzz, worrying that, if implemented, the new feature would further increase risks for online users. The team behind Discord said they will be testing ID-scanning and selfie methods with a new vendor, Incode, as it meets their "strict requirements for on-device facial age estimation."
This is part of tests being run in June and July this year, as the company is also testing other age assurance methods, including Google Wallet and credit card checks, that might be needed for "the small percentage of users who may need to manually age assure."
Discord claims the experiment may not involve all of its users.
The AI-powered Incode method uses an ID and a selfie to verify a user's age.
"Your ID and selfie go directly to Incode, only your date of birth is reviewed for age confirmation purposes, and the entire process is fully automated, so no human ever sees your ID," Discord claims, adding that the collected data is deleted once the verification is completed, and the ID "is never linked to your Discord account."
"Your selfie never leaves your device, and no biometric data is shared," said the company.
However, as is usual with similar collections of private sensitive data, people are wary, as they'd need to trust that third parties won't abuse the data or be hacked, as has already happened on multiple occasions.
What's more, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a nonprofit defending civil liberties in the digital world, some document verifiers have retention periods that are needlessly long.
"This is the case with Incode, which provides ID verification for TikTok. Incode holds onto images forever by default, though TikTok should automatically start the deletion process on your behalf," the EFF claimed previously.
What's more, in 2024, according to Top Class Actions, a $4 million Incode Technologies Inc. class action settlement resolved allegations that the company violated Illinois’ biometric privacy law by collecting individuals’ biometric data without proper consent.
"Biometric data is different from every other data type – you can change a password, you can't change your face," a user online concluded, emphasizing the risks that trusting a third party introduces.
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