Discord Has Stopped Using Peter Thiel-Backed Software Tied to U.S. Surveillance | Them

Bad news for those of us with queer Discord servers (so, most of us): the platform’s former identity verification software, Persona Identities, has ties to U.S. government surveillance. Now, the messaging app has cut ties with them.

Persona and Discord, which is popular with gamers and LGBTQ+ people, said that their partnership, which lasted less than a month, is no longer in effect in a February 24 statement to Fortune. The decision to cut ties with Persona comes after independent security researchers

recently reportedthat, apart from verifying users’ ages, Persona, which is partially funded by Palantir co-creator Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund venture firm, compares your photo to government watchlist photos and screens it against “14 categories of adverse media from terrorism to espionage.” The software’s code goes on to perform a whopping 269 additional verification checks, such as estimated age, phone carrier checks, and social security number comparison.

A spokesperson for Discord added that “only a small number of users’ data was part of this test,” and that any information submitted to the company is deleted after seven days. According to The Verge, an archived version of Discord’s support page said that UK users “may be part of an experiment” in which their age verification information is processed through Persona.

According to the researchers, this information was publicly available, and they are in direct contact with Persona’s CEO, Rick Song, who “has been responsive and engaged in good faith.”

News of Persona’s surveillance ties comes less than a month after Discord announced a since-amended global age verification policy in which users must complete a face or ID scan in order to avoid facing content restrictions. Starting in March, users’ accounts will automatically be set to a “teen-appropriate” experience unless they prove that they are legal adults.

Discord’s age verification announcement faced swift backlash, occurring mere months after the company admitted in October that “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, stating that age verification would now be optional unless users wanted to view age-restricted channels.

Although recent polling indicates that over 4 in 5 Americans support some type of required age-verification process, advocates have argued that such measures can ultimately lead to censorship and pose a danger to children in the long run by violating their privacy, as well as their First Amendment rights to online anonymity.

Despite facing increased scrutiny over its user security, Discord has at least done the bare minimum to protect LGBTQ+ users’ experiences. Back in 2023, the app banned misgendering and deadnaming people as part of an update to its Hateful Conduct Policy.

Get the best of what’s queer.Sign up for Them’s weekly newsletter here.