Reddit and Discord in trouble over controversial age verification
9to5Mac • • business
Key Points:
- Reddit has been fined £14.5 million by the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for unlawfully processing children’s personal information due to inadequate age verification checks using the third-party service Persona.
- The ICO found that Reddit’s age verification methods were insufficient, with many children incorrectly classified as adults, exposing them to potentially harmful content.
- Discord also faced backlash for using Persona, as users criticized the company for privacy concerns related to the service’s access to government records; Discord has since discontinued its use of Persona after a limited test in the UK.
- There are increasing calls for Apple and Google to be legally responsible for age verification on their app stores, potentially implementing age gating to prevent minors from downloading inappropriate apps, a
