I didn’t need to read this to know that age verification was a step too far, but I expect many here - like me - don’t realise just how bad this is.
This applies all over the shop because lots of companies are using Persona, not just LinkedIn.
Still find Discord a reasonable compromise? Read this first, it’s quite a lot to just accept.
Linus Tech Tips found this article. Sorry just an image just the URL is shown in it.
Not only persona will have your info but any cracker as well
It’s not just Persona who have your data. The full picture from their own 34 page privacy [cough] policy is… well there are no words.
And if you read the press releases by Discord you can read between the lines that even if you do not need to supply ID they will feed your interactions with discord (all your posts etc) into their AI to see if it can determine your age.
The stupid AU law that requires people to age verify to use social media doesn’t really work for age verification. The companies promoting to social media that they can do the age verification have shown they don’t care about what age you really are since most kids fly right past it and continue using the social media platform. Mind you the government keeps claiming they are world leaders in protecting children. But at the cost of every social media person being “age verified” even if they do not need to feed in Government ID
Of course the age verification systems are not about age verification but a legal means to hoover up all the social media user’s bio and government ID and habits/use of the platform being used.
If its anything like decade or so ago when the government wanted to do ISP filtering of the internet, there were a number of companies with $$$$ signs in their eyes courting the federal government claiming all sorts of things that were pie in the sky. I BET this is being done by the age verification companies to various governments RIGHT NOW and why there is this wave of governments demanding it.
Follow the money.
And for those like the team thinking that because the discord server is teen safe means nothing to worry about. Sorry EVERYBODY on discord will have their post and usage fed into the AI of the age verification company anyhow. Read the press releases and discern the marketing double speak and distil the actual things that will happen.
I’m not gonna lie, I’m absolutely sick of it. I’m 100% aware of my privacy being at risk 24/7. As a crypto trader, ex-professional poker player and business owner I’ve uploaded my legal documents over a 100 times already. The countless times I’ve been locked out of excess to my funds until I verified are insane. But you verify or you simply have to become a completely different person with different interest. But here comes my stance on this and it might (or might not) surprise you.
The government people running The Netherlands and the European Union are the most incompetent people alive. We’re living in 2026 and they still haven’t figured out a bloody way to verify I’m over 18 (yes, you read it correct. Just over 18, not my age. It’s not of their f-ing business).
How hard is it to introduce a digital identity something like Discord can request data from. The only data they need on the question is this user over 18? = yes. They talk about it for years, it’s all they ever do. They talk. Not a single action. Sorry, that’s incorrect. They introduce an insane unrealized tax on crypto gains and a central bank digital currency nobody wants. End rant.
It’s always about harvesting data. Always.
