An upcoming policy change at Discord sparked some concern over privacy.
It has long been the official policy of Discord that it does not listen to or record your video calls, voice chats, or livestreams. Users were concerned this was no longer the case after Discord announced an updated privacy policy this week that replaced lines specifically outlining the no-listening policy.
The new policy, which goes into effect on March 27, outlines exactly what Discord collects and store, which it describes as “any content that you upload to the service.” This includes custom emojis, shared files, voice messages, and written posts. It’s no longer explicitly stated that Discord isn’t listening to or recording voice or video chat, but a Discord representative told PC Gamer that this practice hasn’t changed.
“There has not been a change in our position regarding recording user content. In the updated policy, we provided clarity to outdated language that might be confusing given some upcoming product enhancements and releases,” the rep said. “However, we want to be clear: Discord does not store or record user content without their knowledge.”
That’s reassuring, though I’m not sure what Discord would’ve gotten out of a four-hour recording of my friends playing Overwatch. Interestingly, the updated policy mentions a feature that, as far as I’m aware, isn’t currently possible on Discord: to “create short recordings of GoLive activity.” Maybe the ability to create short stream highlights, similar to Twitch’s one-minute clips feature, is one of the “upcoming product enhancements” Discord has in the works.
It’s been a pretty big week for the internet’s biggest chat app. Discord announced a handful of new AI tools that integrate directly into servers, including a ChatGPT-powered bot named Clyde rolling out in select servers next week. The marriage of PlayStation and Discord also became official this week with Discord voice chat finally coming to the console for all users.
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