Hey John,

Just months after rolling out facial recognition and online ID checks in select countries,¹ social and messaging platform Discord is in hot water for a hack exposing up to 70,000 users’ government IDs.²

We wish we could say this comes as a surprise. But with more and more Internet users submitting their sensitive information to insecure, third-party databases to comply with age-gating censorship, this is the predictable cost. In places like the UK,³ Australia,⁴ and the many US states implementing online ID checks,⁵ hacks like this might soon go from breaking news to run-of-the-mill for everyone browsing the web. This will keep happening unless we stop online ID checks.

When it comes to online ID checks, data leaks like these are a feature, not a bug. That’s why Fight is pushing back hard against the age verification laws threatening our privacy and access to the Internet. If you haven’t already, check out StopOnlineIDChecks.org and let your lawmakers know how you feel about this dangerous practice.

STOP ONLINE ID CHECKS

Insecure and invasive age checks are far from our only option for making the Internet safer. We’re pushing for common-sense alternatives like comprehensive privacy legislation and anti-trust action against Big Tech to actually protect kids, and everyone else, online.

There’s one more way you can help. This summer, we launched a new campaign⁶ tracking and calling out YouTube’s new AI age verification process and are getting ready to release a report on our findings so far. We tracked the Tea App ID hack⁷ and the devastating effects of the UK Online Safety Act.⁵ Now, our small team is working hard behind the scenes to launch the next phase of this campaign, putting online ID checks on everyone’s radar as an existential threat to the Internet we know and love.

All of these efforts and more are powered by grassroots donations from people like you. Can you make a gift today to power our small team of artists, organizers, and technologists fighting online ID checks? Any amount is hugely impactful for an org of our size.

DONATE NOW

We appreciate any way you can support and will keep you updated on this crucial fight. Until then, stay safe (and don’t forget to use a VPN).

For privacy for all,

Alex at ❤️Fight

Footnotes:

1. BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjr75wypg0vo

2. The Verge: https://www.theverge.com/news/797051/discord-government-ids-leaked-data-breach

3. Cybernews: https://cybernews.com/privacy/how-id-verification-is-killing-online-privacy/

4. The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/sep/13/australians-will-verify-age-photo-id-facial-recognition-to-watch-pornography-from-december

5. Stop Online ID Checks: https://www.stoponlineidchecks.org/

6. Stop YouTube’s ID Checks: https://www.fightforthefuture.org/actions/stop-youtubes-dangerous-id-check-program/

7. Business Insider: https://www.businessinsider.com/dating-nightmare-tea-whisper-network-apps-save-us-2025-7