Discord is rolling out its controversial age checks globally, not just in areas where it's required by law. This means that if your account is suspected to belong to a minor, you will be asked to verify that you are an adult by scanning your face or providing ID.
Given the obvious privacy concerns this raises, few are happy with the move, with many canceling their Discord Nitro subscriptions in protest. But now, frustrated users may have found a way to get around the restrictions entirely, and without compromising data privacy.
It didn't take long for people to find a way around Discord's age verification software.
The tool was quickly spotted and shared around on social media, created and uploaded to GitHub by PromptPirate. Discord ID Bypass Tool does exactly what it says on the tin, giving you a 3D avatar that you can animate to move around and get past age verification software.
Interestingly, the character model is far from human-like and more stylized, but Discord will treat it as a real human until it makes the necessary moves for video selfie recognition. It's possible that Discord will roll out updates to make the tests harder to cheat, but it shows that many find ways around them instead of complying.
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If you are not asked to verify your age, your account may have already been decided to be adult. In a follow-up to all the feedback, Discord explained that most of us won't be asked to verify how old we are, because it will use information we already have, like our “user behavior,” to determine our age. This further frustrated users, as they were dismayed to discover that their Discord activity was not as private as they had initially believed.
As it stands, Discord shows no signs of backing down, but neither does the userbase. The new rules are set to roll out sometime in March, so more users will be affected as the month progresses.
