You will only be checked if you want access to adult servers or servers with adult sections, so there’s a decent chance you won’t be affected by the change either way. However, if Discord fails to properly verify you with the information it has, you will have to give your ID and/or a face scan “through trusted partners.”
Discord says it only receives the age of users, and identity details given in the verification process are not associated with your account.
Perhaps partners will receive account info but Discord won’t receive identity?
If Discord collects and shares a lot of data then maybe they can correlate account metadata with identity
If that’s what they said literally (pictures stay local) then they probably didn’t say that the face data leaves the devices
I’d have to double check, but I also don’t think they said the picture would only be used for age verification.
https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/discord-clarifies-it-is-not-requiring-everyone-to-complete-a-face-scan-or-upload-an-id-and-will-confirm-your-age-group-using-information-we-already-have/
Perhaps partners will receive account info but Discord won’t receive identity? If Discord collects and shares a lot of data then maybe they can correlate account metadata with identity