As of now, messaging platform Discord operates under an age "assurance" system that automatically sorts you in either an adult, teen, or unconfirmed age group based on context, like how long you've had your account and what servers you're a part of. It's the best co-founder and chief technology officer Stanislav Vishnevskiy could do after apologizing in February for the whole thing.

Now, most of what Discord is incorporating in its age assurance policy is what Vishnevskiy outlined in his February confession. As the CTO said then, Discord will restrict teen accounts by doing things like blurring sensitive messages and removing access to Stage channels. If you've been wrongly labeled a teen account, you can correct it with true age verification – providing things like a photo of your government-issued ID to one of Discord's age verification vendors.

This inherently invasive process of age verification – plus, the mystery of what third parties really do with your data – is what initially frightened Discord users and led to Vishnevskiy's self-effacing letter. But, strategically, Vishnevskiy never committed to ditching age assurance, or to doing a substantial rework. A lot of what Discord has just launched is exactly as described in Vishnevskiy's last attempt at "transparency."

" He also reiterates that he knows, "Any form of age assurance, and the possibility of sharing something biometric or an ID, is a controversial topic.

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