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Arthur T Knackerbracket [soylentnews.org] writes:

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn4g8ynpwl8o [bbc.com]

Alastair, or Eret as he is known online, is one of Twitch's most popular LGBT streamers - with more than one million followers on the streaming site.

The US-based British content creator, who does not disclose his last name, says he has around 60,000 members in his server on Discord, an online chat service popular with gamers.

But when the platform announced it would soon require some users to verify their age, Alastair was among those concerned about its implications for their data - and that of their online communities.

"A lot of people use the online world as a place where they can talk about things that they might not feel safe talking about with people in the real world, where being queer might result in being prosecuted," he told the BBC.

"I really do not want to send Discord my ID given their track record - I do not trust them."

Alastair is referring to an incident last October, when Discord admitted official ID photos of around 70,000 users had potentially leaked after a breach at a firm which helped it verify ages.

Discord said it had cut ties with the company in question.

After its age verification announcement was met with backlash, Discord clarified its age estimation tech would mean the "vast majority" of people would not need to complete age checks.

But some users remain concerned about the platform's approach.

Its recent trial of age checking software by Persona in the UK has attracted some scrutiny over the vendor's backing by an investment firm co-founded by Peter Thiel, boss of controversial US data firm Palantir.

Google searches for Discord alternatives have meanwhile spiked worldwide, with some social media users claiming to have cancelled their Discord subscriptions.

And for Alastair and other streamers keen to protect themselves and their followers online, the damage is already done.

Toby, who streams as Tubbo, is a British content creator known for his Minecraft streams, with over 5.2 million followers on Twitch and 2.7 million on YouTube.

Despite Discord's assurances, he says he would not trust his data would be kept secure if required to verify his age.

"I just think it's kind of a dangerous precedent for social media companies to request 3D scans of your face or official documents without there being any kind of knowledge of how that information is being protected or stored," he tells the BBC.

Katie - an American streamer known as Pikachulita - echoed his concerns.

She said she was unsure what guarantees Discord could give to users about protecting their information against hackers and "other malicious entities".

"We live in a time when it's not too far-fetched to believe that companies like Discord could share this data with state or federal agencies - in the US or elsewhere - for their benefit," Katie said.

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