Discord begins rolling out revised age verification system
Discord this week starts automatically sorting users into age groups to limit minors' access to certain content, with several privacy-focused verification options available for unconfirmed accounts.
Discord is this week beginning to implement a revised age verification policy aimed at distinguishing adult users from teenagers on the platform. The company had announced in February that it was delaying stricter plans requiring facial age estimation or ID scans, after those methods drew concerns over privacy and personal data collection.
Automatic sorting
Under the new system, users will be automatically placed into either an "Adult" or "Teen" category based on signals such as how long their account has existed, which servers they belong to, and their general activity levels. Discord said it will not access messages or calls to make this determination, and a user's assigned age group will not appear on their profile or be visible to other server members. Users can check their assigned group under the Account Status section of User Settings. The company expects around 90 percent of its audience to require no further action once correctly sorted.
Verification options
Users placed in the "Unconfirmed" category will need to confirm they are over 18. Depending on region, options may include verification via credit card, Apple App Store, Google Play Store, Google Wallet or the AgeKey credential service, as well as more familiar methods like an ID scan or video selfie. Discord said any third-party age assurance vendor will be required to permanently delete a user's data once the check is complete, and that facial age estimation will run entirely on the user's own device.
Restrictions for teens
Accounts sorted into the Teen group face three restrictions: messages from non-friends are routed to a requests inbox, with warnings shown before accepting friend requests from users without mutual friends or shared small-server membership; access is blocked to content flagged as sensitive as well as adult-only servers, channels and bot commands; and full profile and activity details are visible only to friends and members of smaller servers. Accounts in the Unconfirmed category are subject to the first two of these restrictions until their age is verified.
