Discord’s new privacy feature hasn’t helped its reputation with users

Whether you use Discord to virtually hang out with friends, staying on voice calls while playing your favorite games, or for anything else, the platform has good news for you: All audio and video calls on Discord are now end-to-end encrypted, and the feature is enabled by default so you don’t need to opt in.

The system works with the company’s own Discord Audio & Video End-to-End Encryption (DAVE) protocol and is applied by default to all calls except for stage channels.

Discord says that the encryption works across all platforms, including consoles. Whether participants are using Discord from their smartphones, laptops, Xbox, PlayStation, or the web, their calls will be encrypted by default.

End-to-end encryption has been a default on Discord calls since March of this year. However, the company is now in the process of removing the client code that was used to support an unencrypted fallback. Once complete, this will ensure that Discord calls can’t be unencrypted under any condition.

Discord has been in hot water these past few months, specifically due to privacy concerns arising from its plans to ask users to submit government IDs for age verification. This new announcement, therefore, could help it regain trust with its users.

Not everyone is convinced, however. Discussions on Reddit highlight that users aren’t too happy with the company, with some even calling the new announcement “propaganda” to get its users back.

Still, it’s good to see Discord enabling encryption for calls on its service. That’s especially true in light of moves from companies like Meta removing encryption from DMs, and TikTok announcing that it wouldn’t offer encryption in DMs.