Discord cuts ties with Peter Thiel-backed verification software

Discord is cutting ties with Persona—an age/ID checker backed by Peter Thiel’s fund—after researchers found front‑end code and nearly 2,500 files sitting on a U.S. government‑authorized endpoint, allegedly showing facial recognition against watchlists and “politically exposed persons.” Cue the community meltdown. The loudest chorus: face scanning is a hard no. One commenter rage‑quit with “too late,” and another nuked their account, calling the whole thing “face scan nonsense.” Privacy diehards are shouting “move to E2E,” explaining end‑to‑end encryption means only the sender and receiver can read messages. Others ask the practical question: Is Discord scrapping face checks entirely, or just ditching Persona? The company says the test lasted under a month, involved a small group, and data could be held up to seven days—then deleted. Meanwhile, meme mode activated: users joked about Persona’s reported “269 checks,” imagining it scanning for “terrorism, espionage, and whether you once jaywalked,” and riffed on spy‑movie vibes after the blog claimed “codenames from active intelligence programs.” The Thiel/Palantir connection fueled extra tinfoil‑hat heat. Discord’s recent plan to default teen safety—and push age verification—already set tempers ablaze, especially after last year’s 70,000 ID leak via a third‑party vendor. Now, even with promises of optional verification and “video selfies that never leave your device,” the crowd smells surveillance drama and isn’t letting it go.