Users Flee Discord’s Face Scans in Panic But the Truth About TeamSpeak’s “Privacy Freedom” Could Leave Them Trapped Again
Many people are stuck between two concerns. On one side, they understand that children should not have unlimited access to everything online.
On the other side, they do not feel comfortable giving a company their personal data, face scan, or ID just to prove they are old enough to chat with friends.
That tension is pushing some users to look for alternatives to Discord and one of the main options people are talking about is TeamSpeak.
TeamSpeak says it has recently experienced an “incredible surge of new users.” According to its posts on social media, the increase has been so large that its hosting capacity has reached its limits in several regions, including parts of the United States. However, these claims come directly from the company itself, and it has not shared exact numbers yet, so it is difficult to measure how big the surge truly is.
Still, the appeal is easy to understand. TeamSpeak allows users to quickly create an account, join group chats, or enter large gaming voice servers without being asked to scan their face or upload identification. For people worried about privacy, that feels refreshing. During testing, users were able to enter 18+ chat groups without running into strict age checks.
However, that freedom may not last forever. In the United Kingdom, the Online Safety Act requires stronger age verification systems for many online platforms. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said that no social media platform should avoid responsibility when it comes to protecting children. Because of this, TeamSpeak could eventually be required to introduce similar checks.
There is also another practical issue. If someone wants to create a private voice server for friends instead of joining public spaces, they will likely need to pay a small subscription fee. That means entering payment details, which can indirectly confirm age anyway. So even if there is no face scan, personal data may still be shared.
Meanwhile, Discord has announced that it will roll out facial scanning and ID checks worldwide starting in March. This move has raised concerns, especially after reports last year that around 70,000 age-verification ID photos may have been exposed in a security breach. That incident made many users nervous about sharing sensitive documents online.
Discord has said that not every user will need to complete an age check. The company claims it may be able to confirm someone’s age group using information it already has. But in the UK, some users may be included in an age verification “experiment” using Persona, a third-party verification company that has investors linked to Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel. For users who already feel uneasy about data privacy, that makes the situation even more uncomfortable.
In the end, the debate is about balance. People want safer online spaces for children, but they also want to protect their own privacy. For now, TeamSpeak looks like a simpler option. But as laws tighten and regulations expand, even alternative platforms may have to follow the same path.
