1.5TB of those ‘temporary’ photos you used to check your age on Discord are now in the hands of hackers – Destructoid

Although these were temporary and deleted after verification, the hackers captured over 1.5 TB of Discord verification images (selfies), totaling over two million user photos.

According to Insider Gaming2,185,151 age verification images, i.e. selfies, along with other private user information, were stolen by hackers during the September Discord hack. Discord Previews said that the hackers’ motive was to “extort” the company and that the stolen data is actively used for this purpose.

The hack itself was first revealed on October 3, where Discord did not provide the exact number of images or the size of the stolen databut said only that it was a “small number” of government IDs. From what the company posted that day, it appeared that the breach was not that serious and that it had taken timely action to drive the hackers off the network, specifically by revoking support’s access to Discord tickets. It appears that people who had contact with Discord support were specifically targeted, which may explain the age verification images.

However, as Insider Gaming points out, these images, used by Discord to confirm a user’s age in some jurisdictions where required by law (the UK being the most recent example), are intended to be temporary, meaning they will be deleted once the age verification process is complete.

However, as we see above, millions of these images were reportedly left on Discord’s systems, allowing hackers to steal them during the attack.

The company did not explain how or why these images were retained on its systems, despite its own claims that they were temporary. It also raises privacy concerns, as laws requiring social media platforms to verify a user’s age are intended to protect users, not leave them vulnerable and anonymous.

Online anonymity is a key element of this technology, and hacks like these prove how vulnerable users can be if it is taken away from them, despite assurances to the contrary. While credit card information, passwords and messages were not affected, hackers now have the means to fully reveal people’s names and information as they see fit, exposing them to the wider internet and possibly permanently stripping them of their anonymity.

This kind of measurement is slippery. Time will tell how this ultimately affects Discord users and the platform as a whole, and I’m afraid this won’t be the last time we see these kinds of images, photos, and information leaks.

Do you like our content? Set Destructoid as preferred source on Google in one step to make sure you see us more often in your Google search results!