Discord Rolls Out Revised Age Verification With On-Device Checks and Activity Sorting

Discord has started rolling out a revised age verification policy that automatically categorizes users into adult or teen tiers while introducing privacy-focused verification alternatives, Engadget reported.

The update follows Discord's decision in February to postpone its planned verification policy after backlash concerning data privacy. Under the original plan, accounts that could not be verified by internal systems would have been required to submit an ID scan or complete facial age estimation. The new rollout provides alternative verification routes and tighter data restrictions.

Starting this week, Discord will automatically assign users to either an Adult or Teen age group based on signals including account age, server memberships, and general activity levels. Discord stated that it will not scan direct messages or voice calls to generate an estimate. A user's assigned age category will remain private, appearing only to the user under the Account Status tab in User Settings rather than on public profiles. Discord expects that roughly 90 percent of its user base will be categorized correctly without needing to take additional steps.

Accounts placed into an Unconfirmed category must verify they are at least 18 years old to regain standard access. Depending on regional availability, methods include verification via credit card, Apple App Store, Google Play Store, Google Wallet, or the AgeKey credential service, alongside traditional photo ID scans and video selfies. Discord said it will require third-party verification vendors to permanently delete personal data once verification finishes, and that any facial age estimation processing must run entirely on the user's local device.

Users in the Teen group will face three specific account limitations. First, direct messages from non-friends will route directly to a message requests inbox, and Discord will display an alert before a user accepts a friend request from someone without mutual friends or shared membership in a small server. Second, teen accounts cannot view content tagged as sensitive by platform filters, nor can they access adult-only servers, channels, or bot commands. Third, full profile information and activity will be visible only to friends and members of smaller servers. Unconfirmed accounts will remain under message request routing and content restrictions until age confirmation is completed.