Discord Promises Outraged Users It Won't Store Call Recordings -- For Now

Discord updated their privacy policy to quietly drop their promise to alert users "in advance" if the company ever started storing contents of video calls, voice calls, or channels. Naturally, this alarmed some users who wondered if the company plans to start retaining call recordings. According to a Discord spokesperson, the answer is no. Ars Technica reports: "There has not been a change in Discord's position on how we store or record the contents of video or voice channels," a Discord spokesperson told Ars. "We recognize that when we recently issued adjusted language in our privacy policy, we inadvertently caused confusion among our users. To be clear, nothing has changed and we have reinserted the language back into our privacy policy, along with some additional clarifying information."

Before users began complaining, the policy was going to be updated to say that Discord would be collecting information on "any content that you upload to the service. For example, you may write messages or posts (including drafts), send voice messages, create custom emojis, create short recordings of GoLive activity, or upload and share files through the services. This also includes your profile information and the information you provide when you create servers."

As users raised concerns on Reddit, Discord staffers seemed to rush to assuage fears, saying, "We understand that the wording of the new privacy policy is broad and can be misunderstood" and promising, "We are going to fix this." Since then, Discord added back in the missing language, word for word: "We generally do not store the contents of video or voice calls or channels. If we were to change that in the future (for example, to facilitate content moderation), we would disclose that to you in advance." A Reddit user identifying as a Discord staffer told Redditors that Discord won't "regularly" collect this type of content. That doesn't mean it will never happen though. "In response to user outrage, the policy's new updated language now also specifies that Discord may collect some of this type of content in the future," adds Ars.

"We may build features that help users engage with voice and video content, like create or send short recordings," Discord's new policy states.

I don't know anything about Discord, so..

[Pierre Pants]

please point me to sources that show that it's run by criminals.

Re:

[Narcocide]

source: you're replying to me and you're a criminal.

Re:

[DarkRookie2]

Its a social media company.

Policy Schmolicy

[cstacy]

These communications companies do whatever they want, especially recording information -- such as secretly, ambient on your phone, even when the app is not apparently running; or recording your chats and calls and photos when you were told it's all private. And sometimes they get caught. And you know what happens? Absolutely nothing,

Because for one thing, the Government likes that these recordings exist. And for another, blowjobs and hookers for regulators and politicians. There will never be any accountability or consequences for privacy invasions.

I'm not even talking about the police demanding the info. Most companies will just roll over, even without any warrant.

So, sure, read the TOS, and feel secure that $COMM_INC is not spying on you, for their own ends, and collaterally for the Government.

If you want a secure system, it has to be end-to-end encrypted, including anything on severs, with a key management system where in fact only you have the keys. And the endpoint software (i.e. the phone app) has to be trusted. It has to be open source and proven to be actually that binary code.

Even then, the operating system, and perhaps the firmware, or other apps, will try to spy on you as much as possible. But that problem is out of scope for this discussion.

TOS. Yeah, sure, riiiight.

Prove that you CAN'T spy, motherfucker. Anything else is empty promises.

Yet they have a legal department.

[usedtobestine]

The privacy policy change went through their legal department. If it wasn't what they intended, it never would have appeared on their site.

Oh how Ars has fallen.

Evil already?!

[Teckla]

Wow, I didn't think Discord would start turning evil already...

You Had and Open Source Alternative

[BrendaEM]

I can't remember the name of the program, but when Discord came up, there was a perfectly good open source alternative, but you wouldn't use it. Now is the Winter of your discontent....