Many websites are going on an ‘age verification’ rampage, with several popular platforms such as OpenAI, Roblox, and Reddit using a third-party platform called Persona. Child safety on the internet is something anyone could advocate for, as several aspects of media can inherently put a kid’s life at risk. However, the way they were going about it seemed sketchy to some. People started to investigate and leaked information about Persona. 

Not only have there been multiple lawsuits against it during 2024, because of their system with DoorDash, claiming it violated the Biometric Information Privacy Act. A similar allegation is being made now, as code from the website suggests that it’s been tracking people’s information. Ernestas Naprys, the reporter documenting on Persona, analyzed the code and found a lot; however, a few things, such as: Flagging users as a “suspicious entity” based on face alone, Comparing selfies to political figures with facial similarity scoring, and Tracking users across 13 types of lists, ranging from browser fingerprints to geolocations. Many have been concerned about users’ privacy. 

Discord spoke out and acknowledged this, as they were originally going to implement Persona. However, they have since backtracked, looking for a new way to use age verification. The CEO has yet to address any allegations directly, as there have only been short replies on X.