Discord has begun a global deployment of a new age-verification system that uses a background model to estimate whether an account belongs to an adult. The feature, previously trialled in the UK and Australia, will limit some account access by default until users complete verification. Discord frames the change as a safety measure for users aged 13 and up, but the always-on inference element raises privacy questions.

  • Global rollout: The verification program, already tested in a few countries, is being expanded to users worldwide to better restrict underage access to certain features.
  • Background age estimation: A model that runs without explicit user action will help identify accounts that may belong to adults so the platform doesn’t always require formal verification.
  • Defaults and access limits: Accounts judged likely to be younger will face additional restrictions until the owner verifies their age, changing the default experience for many users.
  • Privacy and trust concerns: Running an inference system in the background has prompted debate about transparency, data use and whether the protections justify the trade-offs.
  • Safety rationale: Discord presents the service as a move to reduce harm and make spaces safer for teens and adults alike, while offering paths for users to confirm their age.

Source: Rock Paper Shotgun

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