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Want to use Discord from next month? Youll have to hand over a photo of your ID or a scan of your face to verify youre of age. Its part of a new process introduced by the chat app aimed at ensuring no one underage is using the platform. All new and existing users, the company says, will be given a teen-appropriate experience by default, including content filtering and limited access to spaces that host adult content. To regain the experience they previously had, users will need to prove their age through one of several options, including video selfies or sharing a photo of an identity document. (Discord did not immediately respond to Fast Companys request for comment.) Users have reacted pretty unfavorably toward the proposal, with many saying theyre unhappy about sharing personal data with Discord, which faced a massive data breach reported just months ago. In that instance, ID photos of 70,000 users were potentially leaked after a cyberattack. (Discord said the incident involved a third-party customer support provider, not its own systems.) What worries privacy groups most is not just Discords plan, but the precedent it sets for other platforms. Its a reflection of growing concerns over the erosion of privacy online, and the slippery slope of mandating identity and age verification across the internet, making these systems a prime tool for surveillance and tracking, says Rin Alajaji, associate director of state affairs at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). Mandating age verification on a platform like Discord directly undermines the platform and the internet’s long-standing culture of anonymity. There are also broader concerns about the growing requirements for users to prove who they are and how old they are to do things they previously did without scrutiny. U.K. polling suggests that while people may support age checks in principle, they are far more reluctant to hand over ID or facial footage in practice. Willingness to comply drops significantly when specifics are involved, and the public is split on the use of face video and photographic ID. Only 23% of Brits say theyd hand over ID to access discussion forums like Discord. That same tension appears in the U.S.: people want children protected online, but are less comfortable when those protections infringe on their own rights. Elinor Carmi, a senior lecturer in data politics and data justice at City St Georges, University of London, argues the backlash isnt just about biometrics or ID checks in the abstract, but about whether people believe this kind of gatekeeping will actually work. People just don’t think that age verification actually works, she says, adding that users see policymakers and platforms reaching for a patch rather than a fix. The social media platforms and the regulators are basically saying, We have an issue, but let’s not deal with it. And let’s try to solve it in the most technical and easy solution, which is obviously also not working, because you can obviously fake it. Theres also fatigue with the concept, with users feeling the burden is being shifted onto them, including teenagers as well as adults, rather than platforms. And beyond that, there are worries about the consequences of a papers, please era of the web. For many usersespecially vulnerable groups like LGBTQ+ youthhaving a space to connect without revealing their real identities is essential for safety and free expression, says EFF’s Alajaji. Age verification puts that at risk, forcing users to choose between privacy and participation. She calls the decision to ask people to hand over more personal data after some users already lost theirs in last years Discord-linked data breach reckless. People are wary because theyve been burned before and know theyre being asked to trade their likeness and other sensitive information simply to participate online. Many users are understandably alarmed about their data being exposed or misused, Alajaji says.
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E-Commerce
This morning, shares of two of the largest computer memory companies that trade on U.S. markets are up yet again. The stock prices of Micron Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: MU) and Sandisk Corporation (Nasdaq: SNDK) rose after a Japanese memory firm issued a surprising outlook. Heres what you need to know. Stock prices jump as demand continues Shares in several memory chip makers traded on U.S. markets are currently up in premarket trading this morning. The companies include Micron and Sandisk, as well as Western Digital Corporation (Nasdaq: WDC) and Seagate Technology Holdings (Nasdaq: STX). As of this writing, Micron shares are currently up 2.9%, Sandisk shares are up 6.2%, Western Digital shares are up 3%, and Seagate shares are up 2.5%. While all four companies make memory chips, Western Digital and Seagate primarily focus on computer storage, leaving Micron and Sandisk as the two primary memory chip makers traded on U.S. exchanges. And those two companies are getting a lot of attention, not just today, but as of late, due to the memory chip shortage that global supply chains are currently dealing with. As Fast Company previously reported, there is a global memory chip shortage in 2026. Computer memory, also known as RAM, is the component inside a computer that saves and processes short-term memory (as opposed to long-term memory, which is what hard drives and SSDs store). Demand from artificial intelligence (AI) companies is fueling the shortage as they race to get as much RAM as they can get their hands on. These AI companies are currently building many AI data centers, which need powerful servers to run the AI, and those servers require memory to handle instructions. As a result, demand for memory chips is off the charts. And while that is bad for consumers, who are likely to see higher costs for smartphones and laptops this year due to rising memory prices, its very good for the companies that make memory, like Micron and SanDisk. Why are memory chip companies seeing their prices rise today? Todays rise in memory company stock prices isnt something totally out of the blue. The stock prices of memory companies have been rising for months as news of a memory chip shortage in 2026 spread. However, the stock price jumps in MU and SNDK today seem to be primarily due to a Japanese company called Kioxia. Kioxia is a Japanese flash memory supplier, and today, it reported fiscal third-quarter results. Those results, as noted by Investing.com, slightly exceeded expectations. Q4 guidance, on the other hand, blew past expectations. Most analysts had expected Kioxia to issue Q4 revenue guidance of 648.2 billion (about $4.2 billion). Instead, the company said its Q4 guidance is 890 billion at the midpoint (about $5.8 billion). That is a massive difference and one that many investors see as evidence that demand for memory chips isnt going to slow anytime soon. And when demand is high, prices rise, and memory chip companies make more money. And investors seem to believe that if Kioxia is guiding much higher on revenue than analysts expected, that signals good news for memory chip companies on this side of the Pacific, too. Memory chip stocks have had a great 2026 so far Even before todays Kioxia boost, U.S. memory chip stocks have had a pretty stellar run since the year began. As of yesterdays market close, Micron was up more than 43% year to date, Sandisk was up 152%, Western Digital was up 58%, and Seagate was up 47%. To put those figures into greater context, the stock market they all trade on, the Nasdaq, has actually declined during the same period. As of yesterdays close, the Nasdaq Composite was down about 0.7% for the year so far, according to data from Yahoo Finance. Looking back even furtherover the past 12 monthsthe returns on these same four memory chip companies have been even more eye-popping. In the last year, Seagate has risen 316%, Micron has jumped 336%, Western Digital is up 425%, and Sandisk has risen a staggering 1,609%. During the same period, the NASDAQ Composite has risen 17.4%
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E-Commerce
An Idaho-based beef processing facility is recalling about 22,912 pounds of raw ground beef over concerns that the products might be contaminated with E. coli O145. The company, CS Beef Packers in Kuna, issued the recall following testing by the U.S. Department of Agricultures (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), according to a recall notice published late Wednesday. An FSIS test at a downstream customer showed E. coli O415. This strand of the bacteria is a variation of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC). The USDA has labeled the recalled products as high risk, with the potential to cause adverse health consequences or even death. Heres what you need to know about the recalled CS Beef Packers items. What products are affected? The recalled products come in cardboard cases and were produced on January 14, 2026. Each case has a time stamp between 7:03 and 8:32 printed on them and a use-by or freeze-by by date of February 4, 2026. Plus, they bear the establishment number Est. 630 inside the USDAs inspection mark (available on the outside of the case and the clear packaging of each chub). As that expiration date has passed, the FSIS is worried that some products may be in food service freezers. Think you might have some in a freezer? The below cardboard cases of products are included in the recall: Eight 10-pound chubs of Beef, Coarse Ground, 73 L, case code 18601 Four 10-pound chubs of Fire River Farms Classic Beef Fine Ground 73 L, case code 19583 Four 10-pound chubs of Fire River Farms Classic Beef Fine Ground 81 L, case code 19563 You can view images of the product labels here. Where and when was the product sold? According to the FSIS, CS Beef Packers shipped the impacted products to distributors in California, Idaho, and Oregon. However, they were likely then sent to food service locations for further distribution. The recall notice does not include a list of potentially impacted restaurants or food-service establishments. Fast Company has reached out to CS Beef Packers for information on where else the recalled products might have gone. We will update this post if we hear back. What should I do if I have this product? The FSIS states that Foodservice locations are urged not to serve these products. These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase. What E. coli symptoms should I look out for? As of Wednesday, there have been no reported illnesses from consuming the beef. However, people can become sick between two and eight days after exposure to E. coli O145. According to the USDA, symptoms include diarrhea (typically bloody) and vomiting. Diagnosis occurs through a stool sample. In most cases, people feel better within a week through treatments like vigorous rehydration, the USDA states. In rare cases, a person might develop a kidney infection known as hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). This condition is most likely to occur in children under five-years-old, individuals with weakened immune systems, and older adults. Symptoms of HUS include easy bruising, pallor, and reduced urine output. Get medical help immediately if you experience any of these symptoms.
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E-Commerce
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