Discord's Age Verification Has A Weird Link To Palantir's Peter Thiel

"Last July was the cut-off date for major digital platforms to comply with the UK's Online Safety Act (OSA). In an attempt to block access between minors and material deemed 'harmful' by the government, platforms like Reddit, Spotify and X began tougher age verification for its users, such as facial scans or even government ID. At the top of those stumbling to do so was Discord, whose system is not only easy to game but not impossible to compromise,"

"While the roll-out is aimed for March, that some Discord users have already been prompted for new age verification, this time using the third party service Persona. Started in 2018, Persona develops identity detection and anti-fraud technologies. They've been having an absolute field day since the OSA, being implemented to verify user ID across Reddit and Roblox. One sticking point, however, is who's backing the company: Peter Thiel, the cofounder of ICE-approved surveillance firm Palantir."

"One of Persona's biggest investors is the Founders Fund, valuing the company at $1.5 billion and . The Founders Fund began in the mid-2000s and made key early investments in the likes of SpaceX, AirBNB, OpenAI and Polymarket. All your favorite tech things "disrupting" the modern world. And who would unleash such a monetary power unto civilization? Why none other than your friend and mine, rallying $150 million towards it in 2021 the anti-humanist, anti-Christ awaiting Thiel."

Major UK Online Safety Act deadlines prompted platforms to tighten age verification, including facial scans and government ID requirements. Discord struggled to implement secure checks and experienced a breach exposing roughly 70,000 user IDs. Discord now plans a global age-verification roll-out using third-party provider Persona, which builds identity detection and anti-fraud systems and has been adopted by Reddit and Roblox. Persona counts Founders Fund among its largest backers and has investment links to Peter Thiel, who is associated with Palantir. The investor and security history of both Discord and Persona have generated controversy around privacy and surveillance risks.

Read at Kotaku