Summary:

• Users in the UK (subject to the 2025 Online Safety Act) reported being prompted to verify age via Persona, an age-verification vendor.

• Discord’s support page now notes that some UK users are part of an experiment with Persona.

• Data submitted to Persona will be stored temporarily for up to 7 days—a departure from Discord’s earlier claim that facial scans would be processed and stored only locally.

• Persona’s lead investor is Founders Fund, co-founded and directed by Peter Thiel.

• Thiel is a co-founder of Palantir, a data-surveillance firm that works with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and harvests private data from U.S. citizens.

• Thiel’s writings and public statements (e.g., “I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible”) have drawn criticism.

• Thiel’s name appeared over 2,200 times in the latest Epstein files, showing extensive coordination with the convicted sex trafficker.

• Some users speculate Discord is testing Persona because its primary partner, k-ID, may have vulnerabilities or workarounds.

• Discord has not publicly explained why Persona is being used for some verifications.

Discord just needs to die

“Age verification.”