Discord Rolls Out Face Scanning Feature to Verify Users’ Age

Discord is a popular platform among gamers and casual users alike. In the past, the service has been accused of failing to adequately protect underage users from age-inappropriate content. Discord is looking to improve this, including by introducing a face-scanning age verification feature, which is currently in testing.

Image source: techspot.com

The company confirmed that age verification via facial scanning is an age control tool for access to certain spaces or features of the service. It is noted that one of the priority issues is maintaining privacy, since age verification will primarily be faced by younger Discord users trying to access age-restricted content.

The message says that the data used for age verification is processed once and is not stored on Discord servers. Age verification can be done not only through biometric data analysis, but also through the platform identifier. The solution used for face scanning works entirely on the user’s local device, i.e. biometric data will not be sent anywhere over the network.

The privacy issue is really important here, as the new age verification method on Discord involves scanning a person’s official ID with a smartphone camera. According to a company representative, the scanned document is deleted after verification. The new feature is currently available in the UK and Australia in beta testing.