We regularly review our policies to ensure we're surfacing important information to our users in a clear and easy-to-understand way. As we continually work to improve our services, respond to new laws around the world, and protect your privacy, we periodically update these policies to reflect those priorities and our commitments to each other.
Here are some highlights of what we’ve updated:
- How we describe our services: We added more detail about how Discord works and what you can expect from us – from how users communicate, to features that enhance your experience while playing games by enabling you to connect your account, share your activity, and see relevant sponsored content like Quests.
- How we approach privacy: We’ve updated you on the data we can collect from you and other sources, how we can use it, and how you can control its use across Discord. You can learn more about your Data Privacy Controls here. We’ve also provided more information about privacy rights in different countries and jurisdictions. These changes reflect our commitment to user transparency and control.
- How we’re investing in sponsored content: We're thrilled that users and advertisers have embraced Quests, our rewards-based advertising format, as an extension of Discord's mission to be the place to build meaningful connections around the joy of playing games. We are improving and evolving our approach to sponsored content to deliver more value for users and advertisers. We've updated you on how we may work with measurement partners. We’re also providing you with more information on how we can use your data to show you relevant sponsored content and additional settings for you to control it. Updated settings will roll out to users on desktop and mobile in the coming weeks.
- How we can use your content: We’ve simplified and clarified that the rights you give us to your content allow us to use it to generally provide, develop, and improve our services. Our practices around how we use your content have not changed and will continue to follow our Privacy Policy.
- Legal and regulatory updates: We’ve made updates based on changes in the legal and regulatory landscape around the world, including how we resolve disputes and to address the UK’s Online Safety Act.
- More detail in our Community Guidelines: Our Community Guidelines are central to how we work to keep you safe and to enable you to build meaningful connections around the joy of playing games. We’ve clarified the Guidelines and the individual Policy Explainers to help you better understand the policies.
- Updated Paid Services Terms: We've clarified and added language covering Discord Orbs, our new virtual reward, as well as backup payment methods to help keep your subscriptions running smoothly if your primary payment fails.
You can also find a summary of the changes at the links below, but please do read the revised policies, as they are what actually govern your use of Discord:
Additionally, we know policy updates can raise questions, so we've put together some Q&As for some things you might be wondering about below. Thanks for reading!
Q: Is Discord selling my data to advertisers or other third parties?
A: No, we do not sell your personal information to third parties. As part of our services, we offer Quests, which are rewards-based advertisements that give users a way to earn rewards for playing, streaming, or watching videos on Discord. Quests are optional – you are not required to engage with them. If you do engage with Quests, we may share certain data (like whether you started playing a game after seeing a Quest) with our measurement partners to help us measure their effectiveness. Our measurement partners are not allowed to use the data we share for anything other than Quest measurement reporting, and they cannot share your data with any advertisers or other third parties. Additionally, Discord’s data reporting to advertisers about their Quests is aggregated and anonymized, and we do not share personal information with them. If you do not want Discord to share this data with our partners, you can choose not to engage with Quests.
Q: Is Discord allowing AI companies to train their models on my messages?
A: No, we do not allow AI companies to train their models using your messages.
Q: Do the updates to the content license mean Discord can use my art/content however it wants?
A: No. Your content still belongs to you, and we're not selling it to others. The license gives us your permission to use your content to provide, develop, and improve our services — the updates are just meant to simplify and clarify that.
Q: How will third-party data be used for personalizing sponsored content?
A: Discord may acquire data from third parties to gain a better understanding of user interests, including engagement with content or games outside of Discord or general demographic information. We may use this information for different purposes as described in our Privacy Policy, including to show you more relevant sponsored content. Updated settings to control Discord’s use of third-party data to personalize sponsored content will roll out to users on desktop and mobile in the coming weeks. Check out our Help Center article to learn more about data used for sponsored content.
Q: How can I control how my gameplay activity is shared on Discord?
A: Discord is designed to make it easy to share what you’re up to, like what game you’re playing. You can control whether your gameplay activity is shared on Discord in your Activity Settings. Sharing this activity has always been fundamental to the Discord user experience through features like “Now Playing” that show in your status. These features are powered using information from your game accounts that you choose to connect to Discord and the games we’re able to see running on your device while you’re using Discord. You’re also in control of whether you connect your game accounts to Discord or disable the games we can see in your Activity Settings.
Q: Is Discord introducing mandatory age verification or ID checks?
A: The United Kingdom's Online Safety Act (“OSA”) introduces new responsibilities for online platforms to reduce safety risks and provide age-appropriate experiences for users, especially teens. In compliance with the UK OSA, all new and existing UK users will be assigned updated default settings.
These defaults include automatic content filtering (which is already enabled for teens everywhere) to reduce the likelihood that teens encounter certain types of potentially harmful content, as well as different social settings. UK users who wish to access content flagged by our filters or customize those settings can do so only after verifying that they are 18 or older through our new privacy-forward age verification experience.
Our new privacy-forward age verification experience is required in specific scenarios that meet the OSA’s requirements, while building on our commitment to fostering genuine connections and a positive online experience. Check out our Safety Center article to learn more about why we are making these changes due to the UK OSA.
Age verification is currently only available to UK users. For more info, please visit our Help Center article.
Q: Are you recording my voice and video calls?
A: No, Discord does not record your voice and video calls. Voice and video communications on Discord are designed to be end-to-end encrypted so only you and the people in your call can hear/see the conversation. You can verify your calls are encrypted by looking for the encryption indicator during calls. For more info, please visit our Help Center article.
