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Discord Users Threaten Exodus Over Age Verification Face Scan Controversy (www.newsweek.com)
submitted 7 months ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
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Starting in early March, the platform will place every account into a default "teen-appropriate" experience unless it has proof that users are adults.

The move has brought widespread criticism from Discord users, who are citing privacy and security concerns following a recent breach of a third-party vendor that ended up exposing around 70,000 government ID images used to verify the age of Discord users.

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[–] 245 points 7 months ago* (12 children)

Discord age restrictions prevent an underage user from viewing - but not sending - nude pictures.

This isn't to protect kids. It's to enforce increasingly authoritarian control over the web.

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  • [+] -46 points 7 months ago (11 children)

    Any source for this ?

    The official announcement is quite vague and since the feature isn't out it's hard to know how it will work exactly.

    Also, I assume the biggest risk isn't for teens to send nudes "unprompted" but to let adults contact them and ask for them.

    This for example is very vague :

    Age-gated Spaces – Only users who are age-assured as adults will be able to access age-restricted channels, servers, and app commands.

    So if a teen can only interact with other teens on dedicated spaces it should make it harder for perverts to ask for stuff.

    And if an adult tries to pretend to be a teen he will only see blurred content ?

    I'm sure many will think I'm trying to defend Discord on this but I'm not. Again we dont really know how this update will work. I'm just trying to make sure we dont spread misinformation.

    There will be plenty of time to criticize Discord when they push this update.

    What I'm sure of is that discord was definitely a platform of choice for many bad people to hunt and groom teens.

    Personally, it's the fact that discord says they will delete my verification data :

    Identity documents submitted to our vendor partners are deleted quickly— in most cases, immediately after age confirmation.

    In most cases ? Really ? Is that supposed to look trustworthy ?

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  • [–] 78 points 7 months ago (8 children)

    So if a teen can only interact with other teens on dedicated spaces it should make it harder for perverts to ask for stuff.

    There is no age verification to prove you're a teen. The age verification is to prove that you're an adult.

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  • [+] -34 points 7 months ago (7 children)

    Please read the end of my message.

    If you are a teen "by default" you will have all the restrictions of a teen until you prove you are an adult.

    So an adult with ill intentions should either be :

    • A teen by default and therefore have many limitations.
    • An adult that have limitations in reaching to teens.

    Again it's what the very vague statement of Discord says. We also have no clue how their "inference model for age classification" works either...

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  • [–] 29 points 7 months ago (6 children)

    So an adult could just create two accounts, one to access teen spaces, where they don't verify their age l and one for accessing adult spaces, where the age gets verified?

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  • [+] -19 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (5 children)

    Please read the Discord official post.

    one to access teen spaces,

    That account will be tagged as a teen account until proven otherwise. Therefore any message or DM he will receive will go to a special inbox with most likely warnings to consult it.

    Please, again, I understand that the pitchforks are out for discord, I'm just asking you to take the time to read the official discord post from top to bottom.

    There will still be unknowns until they release the update but your question is already answered by their official post.

    Basically, as long as an account hasn't done an age verification it's assumed to be a teen. And that means all the limitations attached to that. So you can create 10 accounts if you want either :

    • You have proven you are an adult on that account you remove the limitations to what you can do but your messages towards teen accounts will most likely go to that special inbox they mention. No clue exactly how hidden and how much warning are attached to that inbox.

    • You have no proven your age and your account is limited like any other teens account. You won't be able to see "sensitive media" whatever Discord means by that I dont know.

    What I really wonder is what they will allow in term of interactions between the two groups in details. They are very vague on many aspects of it.

    But multiplying your accounts on discord doesn't look like a valid workaround to their system.

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  • [–] 15 points 7 months ago (4 children)

    The point I am making is about protecting teens from adults. So teen-per-default means that adults can freely talk to teens, which should be prevented. Either allow no teens on your platform, or teens have to proof that they are teens first.

    Adults (and teens for that matter) are pretty good at obfuscating grooming.

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  • [+] -7 points 7 months ago (3 children)

    So teen-per-default means that adults can freely talk to teens, which should be prevented.

    That's not my understanding.

    I get your point but by default if Discord thinks you are a teen it also implies all the limitations associated with that status. Which means some media will be blurred and some commands cannot be done.

    An adult can keep his "teen default status" but he also keeps all the limitations associated with it. Which I suppose doesn't mean they can "freely" talk to other accounts as you state.

    Notably the DM that a groomer would send will end up in a special inbox for all teens or for that matter "default teen".

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  • [–] 7 points 7 months ago (2 children)

    If every message goes to a special inbox, none do. You just train people to use that inbox like they use their current inbox

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  • [–] -5 points 7 months ago* (1 child)

    No it's DM from people that are not in your friend list. I often receive scam messages on Discord and only notice them months latter.

    The simple fact that they will be hidden deep in the inbox IMO is important. If a teen doesn't see messages from strangers they had no prior contact with that's good in my book.

    I think it's much better than just letting these nasty DMs stay in the dark anyway.

    At least a teen will have to go out of his way and ignore the warnings to get in contact with some freak.

    Also what better solution do you suggest to implement ?

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  • [–] 7 points 7 months ago

    It'll train everyone to ignore the warnings, so if a different platform implements such a system more sensibly users will be inclined to ignore those warnings too now. Overusing a warning is a really quick way to make people ignore it even where used correctly.
    If you placed wet floor signs everywhere just in case, fall injuries would increase.

    Systems around this will develop, either people will learn to dig up the dms, or it'll be incorporated into normal communication. It's already become the norm to use friend requests as a dm request on discord, due to previous dm restrictions.

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  • [–] 24 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 child)

    The age restrictions for Discord were implemented already in my country a few months ago, that's why I know it works that way

    For what it's worth, I'm a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and online grooming, and IMO this policy does not make vulnerable kids any safer at all. As a kid, growing up, I was desperate for any validation and even kindness because of my neglectful/abusive home situation and that need was exploited by adults who provided me the emotional connection I needed/wanted, which was then twisted into a romantic/sexual relationship. That's the risk, and all it needs is a basic chat functionality - once it has started, the groomer can very easily "help" the young person bypass any and all "protections" through any number of methods, including just switching to another platform.

    The reality is that most kids are far more at danger from abusive adults in their lives - their parents, family, friends, teachers, etc. - than they are at danger from the Internet. The reason I was vulnerable to abuse online is because I was already abused IRL. If you (or anyone) has concerns about their kids safety online, by far the best thing you can do is just to be there for them, be a trustworthy, kind and loving adult in their lives. That way, when creeps online talk to them, they won't be needy for the attention, they won't be vulnerable, and if something makes them uncomfortable, they'll come and talk to you about it.

    Anyways, went off on kind of a tangent, but I hope it's helpful/informative anyways.

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