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Discord cuts ties with identity verification software, Persona

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Re: Discord cuts ties with identity verification software, Persona

#311
post #171
post #15

The referenced write-up based on the Persona front end code is here: https://vmfunc.re/blog/persona I definitely recommend reading this primary source before drawing conclusions about the code as most of the secondary reporting is quite low quality.

I read it and, maybe it’s because I’ve spent too much time in fintech, I don’t share most of the concerns. The differences in proclaimed data retention periods is concerning though. The rest is par for the course for KYC/AML.

I agree; I didn't want to editorialize too much as I think the writeup stands on its own.

My takeaway was that in this case, even an author with a clear and extreme bias against this sort of thing could find only unfortunately-common bad practices rather than deeply nefarious intent. Of course, this is just the front-end code, but this just looks like a KYC platform to me. Most of the secondary reports on this write-up seem to completely ignore section 0x13 and jump to the specific conclusions the author does not draw.

The fact that we've created a system where Discord need and want a KYC platform is a different and quite strange thing, but the KYC platform itself just looks like what it says on the tin.

Re: Discord cuts ties with identity verification software, Persona

#312

Earlier quoted context omitted.

why use that specific word though?

Don't be surprised or shocked to encounter metaphors and hyperbole as you read. It's part of standard English communication.

I haven't heard that word used as a metaphor or hyperbole since I stopped playing on call of duty in 2014...

Weird that the hacker news community wants to stick to it. Yall need to grow up. Because I know you would not use it as a metaphor or hyperbole at work.

Defending it makes you look immature.

Re: Discord cuts ties with identity verification software, Persona

#315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So they "owe it" to Discord. Got it.

That's not what I said or implied.

But that's the effect. Either Discord gets to lock the information away (even if it currently chooses to leave the gate unlocked), or it's available to anyone who does a web search.

Re: Discord cuts ties with identity verification software, Persona

#316
post #262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Note also there's a direct response from Persona's security team here[1], and a lot of back and forth from Rick on Twitter[2]. [1]: https://withpersona.com/blog/post-incident-review-source-map... [2]: https://x.com/Persona_IDV/status/2025048195773198385?s=20

> About the name: The subdomain was called onyx, a reference to the Pokémon Onix (a Pokémon made of multiple boulders, fitting for a multi-node architecture). It was an informal codename chosen by the engineer. It had no connection whatsoever to Fivecast ONYX, an unrelated 3rd party commercial product previously used by ICE. We understand this coincidence caused confusion, and we address it further below.

The fact that this is even being discussed is truly a bad smell of bad-faith “dig up anything that sounds bad” “reporting”

Re: Discord cuts ties with identity verification software, Persona

#317

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Note also there's a direct response from Persona's security team here[1], and a lot of back and forth from Rick on Twitter[2]. [1]: https://withpersona.com/blog/post-incident-review-source-map... [2]: https://x.com/Persona_IDV/status/2025048195773198385?s=20

Twitter requires login to view the replies, might use an alternative: https://nitter.net/Persona_IDV/status/2025048195773198385

It doesn't appear that any of the replies contain anything of substance

Re: Discord cuts ties with identity verification software, Persona

#318

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's possible if not probable you are correct, but a lot of this is not as coordinated as you might think. Religious conservatives just think porn is the devil, and more and more, I find non-religious people that view it as such, too, without some wider plot to take rights away from gay people. They're just prudes and they're happy to remove those rights when given the chance. This certainly is the average co…

I think you're the one not knowing your enemies here. There is a plan to strip queer people of rights, it is already well underway. You cannot possibly have an effective plan of opposition if you don't acknowledge the incredible economic, social, and technological resources that have been spent spreading and nurturing the prejudices that you can now call "uncoordinated." A lot of the individuals furthering these meas…

There was a constellation of political groups who were internally coordinated weren't coordinated with one another because they wanted slightly different outcomes or had different motivations. The absolutely massive success of the coordination behind the LGBT political movement and refusal to be broken up and picked off piecemeal is what made various oppositions more bark than bite. But that isn't true anymore, as you and others have recognized. I mean the plan is outlined in Project 2025, we're well beyond small organizations screaming into the void and skulking around the political periphery. It's just out in the open which makes it a lot easier to rally around.

And now, to my view, it's basically a race. The very well coordinated political opposition laser targeting transgender people as the weak link has to push them back into the closet before too many people know someone trans personally and realize they aren't scary monsters with pointed teeth. They failed with the gays but they were about an order of magnitude larger and so got more exposure.

Re: Discord cuts ties with identity verification software, Persona

#319
post #262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> About the name: The subdomain was called onyx, a reference to the Pokémon Onix (a Pokémon made of multiple boulders, fitting for a multi-node architecture). It was an informal codename chosen by the engineer. It had no connection whatsoever to Fivecast ONYX, an unrelated 3rd party commercial product previously used by ICE. We understand this coincidence caused confusion, and we address it further below.

The fact that this is even being discussed is truly a bad smell of bad-faith “dig up anything that sounds bad” “reporting”

Yeah I'd sorta second that actually. I can't "judge" on everything they say in the blog post. But some things I definitely recognize as "bad-faith".

    Datadog RUM (browser-intake-datadoghq.com) - real-time user monitoring. every click, every page load - on a FedRAMP platform processing PII and biometrics.
Well duh, yes, DataDog does have those capabilities. Doesn't mean you use all of it, just coz you use RUM in general. We also use DataDog and RUM. But we also use filtering, including filtering out the known PII sources we have in our specific case (non-FedRAMP) and we don't have entire session recording enabled for example and we only sample.

Yet no mention of that in the post. They just assume that they must be sending PII from a FedRAMP site to DataDog. No proof of what data actually does get sent.

Re: Discord cuts ties with identity verification software, Persona

#320

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s not a “maybe”. This administration was collecting lists of people who spoke negatively about ICE from social media like a week ago. you really think they’re going to send them gift baskets or something?

> This administration was collecting lists of people who spoke negatively about ICE from social media like a week ago. Source for this? This goes against many values of the US, so I'm surprised to see this statement thrown out so nonchalantly.

Yup, absolutely I do.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/technology/dhs-anti-ice-s...

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