Global pause: Discord delays global age verification after Persona frontend exposure

Discord said Wednesday it will delay its global age verification rollout after heavy user criticism and new scrutiny of the identity vendor Persona. The platform’s CTO pushed back the timeline and promised most accounts will never need to submit biometric or ID scans, but researchers’ findings about Persona’s exposed frontend and wide-ranging checks have deepened concerns.

CTO Stanislav Vishnevskiy moves timeline, promises most users won’t verify

Stanislav Vishnevskiy, Discord’s chief technology officer, wrote in a Wednesday blog post that the company "missed the mark" and will delay the rollout to the second half of 2026. The rollout had been slated to begin in early March and would have placed underage users into a "teen-appropriate experience" with updated communication settings, content filtering and restricted access to age-gated spaces.

Vishnevskiy said the platform will not require face scans or ID uploads from everyone and that over 90% of users will never need to verify their age; fewer than 10% would be asked to do so. He added that if users choose not to verify, they can keep their account, servers, friends list, messages and voice chat, but they will lose access to age-restricted content and the ability to change certain safety settings. Vishnevskiy also addressed last year’s security breach and said Discord no longer works with that vendor.

Persona frontend exposed on U. S. government–authorized server with 2, 456 files

Independent researchers investigating Discord’s age-verification checks discovered an exposed frontend that belonged to Persona, the identity-verification vendor used in Discord’s tests. The researchers found the frontend on a U. S. government–authorized server with 2, 456 accessible files; a researcher known as "Celeste" said the exposed code sat at a government-authorized endpoint that appeared isolated from Persona’s regular work environment. The exposed files have since been removed.

Those files, researchers found, revealed a surveillance and financial-intelligence stack far broader than a simple "teen safety" tool.

Persona’s software runs 269 checks, screens 14 adverse-media categories and retains data up to three years

The exposed code showed Persona’s software performs 269 distinct verification checks. It runs facial recognition against watchlists and politically exposed persons, screens "adverse media" across 14 categories including terrorism and espionage, and assigns risk and similarity scores. The software also performs phone carrier checks and social security number comparison as part of its broader verification suite.

Persona collects and can retain for up to three years a range of data points: IP addresses, browser and device fingerprints, government ID numbers, phone numbers, names and faces. The vendor’s pipeline also records numerous "selfie" analytics such as suspicious-entity detection, pose repeat detection and age inconsistency checks. Persona was tested by Discord in the UK, and an archived support page noted UK users "may be part of an experiment" where age-verification information is processed through Persona.

Persona is a biometric identity verification start-up that offers Know Your Customer and Anti-Money Laundering solutions that rely on biometric checks to estimate age. The company is partially funded by Founders Fund, the venture firm co-founded by Peter Thiel.

Global decision: a partnership under a month, small test and a seven-day deletion claim

The partnership between Discord and Persona lasted less than a month and, in a February 24 statement, is now no longer in effect. A Discord spokesperson said "only a small number of users’ data was part of this test" and that information submitted to the company is deleted after seven days. Discord has stated it will not continue to use Persona for age verification.

The company’s age-verification announcement faced swift backlash, coming months after Discord acknowledged an October incident in which approximately 70, 000 users may have had government-ID photos exposed after one of its third-party vendors was hacked. Shortly afterward, Discord rolled back its original announcement and made age verification optional unless users wanted to view age-restricted channels.

Broader debate: Australia’s ban, U. S. polling and privacy concerns

Researchers’ findings arrived amid wider questions about whether age verification delivers its aims. Australia’s new rules have been in force for six weeks and the country’s internet regulator says it has shut down about 4. 7 million accounts held by under-16s on platforms including TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, X, Twitch, Reddit and Threads, yet interviews indicate many children still access banned apps through simple workarounds.

Recent polling indicates more than four in five Americans support some form of required age verification. Advocates, however, say such measures can lead to censorship and pose a danger to children by violating privacy and online anonymity protected by the First Amendment. Separately, Discord has taken steps to protect vulnerable communities: in 2023 the app banned misgendering and deadnaming as part of an update to its Hateful Conduct Policy.

Researchers say they are in direct contact with Persona’s CEO, Rick Song, who has been described as responsive and engaged in good faith. The identity of other platforms said to use Persona was listed but the specific names are unclear in the provided context.

Minyvonne Burke is a senior breaking news reporter.