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Backlash to a recent policy change has prompted some fixes and clarifications.
Recently, text, voice, and video chat app Discord released an updated version of their personal Chatbot, Clyde, now supplemented with AI algorithm technology. Following the release of the updated Clyde, however, multiple eagle-eyed Discord users noted a change in the app’s privacy policy: a clause that previously stated that the company wouldn’t store recordings of calls and streams was removed. This prompted backlash against Discord for potential privacy violations, which in turn necessitated some damage control.
Earlier this week, Discord reinstated the removed section of the privacy policy, which reads as follows: “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. We also don’t store streaming content when you share your screen, but we do retain the thumbnail cover image for the stream for a short period of time.”
Discord clarified their position in a message to Gizmodo, saying that “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.”
Discord Revises Its Privacy Policy After Backlash Over AI https://t.co/u2MSU0DvBM pic.twitter.com/aZAEA4piO5
— Gizmodo (@Gizmodo) March 13, 2023
Discord also updated their recent blog post about their AI tech pursuits to assuage any remaining doubts. “Our AI features use OpenAI technology, but OpenAI cannot use Discord user data to train its general models. Like other Discord products, these features can only store and use information as described in our Privacy Policy, and they do not record, store, or use any voice or video call content from users,” the post reads.
