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Brits can get around Discord's age verification thanks to Death Stranding's photo mode, bypassing the measure introduced with the UK's Online Safety Act. We tried it and it works [pcgamer.com]:

Today saw the full introduction of the requirements outlined in the Online Safety Act in the UK, requiring "robust" age checks [bbc.co.uk] for users to access adult content online. People have already managed to find ways around at least some of these verification requirements after *checks watch* less than 24 hours.

Earlier today, our James stumbled across people using Sam Porter Bridges selfies to bypass Discord's age verification, from this post from DanySterkhov on X [x.com].

Naturally, we thought to take this infiltration method for a spin. The result? (Cue Deux Ex music.) James was able to bypass the new verification system and exfiltrate key NSFW data without alerting the system to intrusion. (They did it in the name of science).

Basically, it worked! We're enjoying smutty Baldur's Gate 3 fanfics on Discord again. Not that we couldn't anyways, we're all 18 or older here. Nor are we telling you to circumvent these restrictions. Adult content is for adults. But it is a fun hack, and a good way of keeping your actual face far away from Discord's age verification system, K-id.

K-id is able to verify users in one of two ways: Face Scan or Scan ID. The latter is fairly self-explanatory, but the former uses checks to verify how old you look to see if you're good to view whatever adult content you're hoping to view. Discord essentially demands age verification for the following:

• When unblurring or changing settings for the Discord Sensitive Media Filter
• When changing Message Request settings
• When trying to access age-restricted (18+) channels

Now, K-id claims it does not permanately store any video selfies or personal identity documents after a user's age is confirmed, so sayeth the Discord support page [discord.com]. That means it's not the end of the world if you did upload your actual face, in theory, though I understand some aren't too comfortable with that prospect either way. That also means it won't know you used Sam Porter's face once you're verified, as it has no way of 'checking the records', so to speak.

The method requires using a phone for the Discord age verification, opening Death Stranding's Photo Mode, and preparing a close up of Sam Porter, played by one Norman Reedus.

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The K-id Discord ID verification is designed to weed out would-be imposters, and asks user's to open and close their mouth to verify they're a real person. Thanks to Kojima's attention to detail, that's easy enough in Death Stranding, as 'Sam's expression' bar lets you pick through facial expressions. This requirement for facial movement appears to weed out, say, using an image of a game character on the cover of PC Gamer magazine, but it's not much of an issue for games or even AI to circumvent.

We weren't sure whether it would work for us because Sam was wearing his otter cap in our James' save file, but it worked just fine, and took about thirty seconds from start to finish. Thirty seconds for infiltration, and another thirty for Baldur's Gate 3 fanfic data exfiltration.

Now I suppose we shouldn't take the UK government's age verification requirements to have amounted to nothing because of this. It is just one of many possible age verification methods used across websites to answer the UK government's call for more stringent measures. It might not be so easy with other solutions.

But it's at least something to consider, along with the threat the bill might pose to our privacy [internetsociety.org] thanks to vagaries of the language surrounding online encryption, as we shuffle ever closer to the gates of the digital panopticon. Still, I guess it tries to stop some people from seeing things they shouldn't, which isn't a bad thing; it's just difficult to get a bead on whether it actually will achieve that, and doesn't water down UK citizens' privacy too much in the process.

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'I create fake IDs of your MP so you can get round Online Safety Act' [metro.co.uk]:

‘It will be funny when Keir Starmer [metro.co.uk]’s driving licence is leaked online,’ said Tim Knight, the creator of Use-Their-ID, a website that generates IDs of any sitting MP in response to the Online Safety Act [metro.co.uk].

Type in a postcode, and in just seconds you can get something that looks uncomfortably real – a photo, a signature, a date of birth, a home address.

Like the prime minister’s ID, all of it is fake, of course – but people are trying to use it to bypass age verification checks online [metro.co.uk].

Use-Their-ID is part prank, part protest against the controversial law, which aims to stop children from seeing harmful content [metro.co.uk] relating to suicide, self-harm, eating disorders and pornography.

Since the Online Safety Act came into effect last Friday, more than 100,000 driving licences have been generated on Knight’s website.

Explaining the idea behind it, the 39-year-old told Metro that it is ‘inevitable’ that sooner or later, there will be a major data leak and British passports and driving licences will be released online.

Craig Munro breaks down Westminster chaos into easy to follow insight, walking you through what the latest policies mean to you. Sent every Wednesday. Sign up here [metro.co.uk].

He added: ‘My gut reaction was, well, if the government is going to require me to send my ID all over the internet to view anything that it deems to be “adult content”, that sounds like a privacy and a security nightmare.

‘Websites that are implementing age verification checks are incentivised to do it as cheaply as possible – which means outsourcing it to a third party.

‘Then it just goes to the cheapest bidder, right? And that means that these checks will not be being done securely and safely or thoroughly.

‘[The Online Safety Act] is a disaster for privacy online, but also security… It is a big overreach from the government.’

Personal information leaks are not the only element of the process that he is worried about.

Knight said that people are ‘being cut off from a good selection of online resources’ because they are too concerned about their privacy to upload their IDs.

He pointed to website like Spotify, which now forces ID checks before its users can listen to music with explicit lyrics.

The Wikimedia Foundation, which runs Wikipedia, has said that unless the website is made exempt [wikimedia.org.uk], it would likely be barred under the law.

‘All sorts of websites – like suicide prevention resources, so not the porn sites that the government is talking about – are building verification checks,’ the creator said.

‘They are suddenly having to build walls to keep out children. And we are also seeing websites around the internet blocking UK traffic altogether.

‘So we are just being cut off from a good selection of resources on the internet.’

It is not just Knight who is protesting the Online Safety Act. Only a week since it was enforced, nearly 500,000 people signed a petition asking for it to be repealed.

In response, the government said it had ‘no plans’ to scrap it. Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, Peter Kyle, said that those who want it gone are ‘on the side of predators’.

Like Knights, critics argue that the legislation is too vague and far-reaching.

Under the Online Safety Act, websites must take action to protect children.

More specifically, they have to:

• remove harmful and illegal content from their platforms

• act quickly to prevent children (but not adults) from seeing harmful content
• remove illegal content (for example content relating to self-harm, abuse, suicide and eating disorders)

They face large fines if they fail to comply with the sweeping rules.

He added: ‘MPs seem to have come up with this legislation based on their gut feeling – and not really listening to experts.

‘The entire tech industry – and I do not just mean American social media companies – are all face-palming right now at how silly the legislation is.

‘It has turned the UK into a bit of a laughing stock.’

Knight created Use-Their ID as a ‘joke’. He thought it would be ‘funny when the inevitable data leaks do happen and MP’s ID cards show up’ online.

As a software engineer, he builds web applications for a living, so he does ‘actually know about the security side of things’.

In the last week, people have praised his site, describing it as an ‘excellent use of his skills’.

Comments from supporters read ‘thank you immensely’ and ‘thank you for caring’, with one of them saying: ‘Thank you so much for the ID website, it is both bloody funny and an excellent idea.

‘Best of luck if anyone comes after you.’

A spokesperson for the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology told Metro: The law is clear: platforms must not promote ways to circumvent requirements of the Act , and those who fall short will face serious enforcement action.

‘Ofcom is already assessing platform compliance to ensure robust safeguards are in place to prevent circumvention, and investigations are underway into 37 sites.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk [mailto].

For more stories like this, check our news page [metro.co.uk].

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