If they want to get paid, some Twitch streamers will need to use the same identity verification service Discord just ditched

Just weeks after Discord u-turned itself out of a Persona-related mess, another gaming-adjacent company has embraced the controversial digital verification service. Some Twitch streamers now have to verify their identity through the Persona system, which has caused upset thanks to its ties to mass surveillance program Palantir, in order to access their earnings from the platform, according to creators on social media.

A VTuber by the name of Tawny Code Cat shared screenshots of the new terms on social media platform BlueSky. "Submit proof of identity and location to receive your payout," the rules read, before explaining that you will have to upload your government ID and a selfie to Persona in order to access your hard-earned funds.

Tawny Code Cat says that they have already given Twitch their business registration and "a ton of other" information that should be enough to verify they are who they say they are, and considers the partnership with Persona "a massive invasion of privacy and a huge risk of identity theft."

Persona has come under fire for its links to Palantir, after it received funding from the latter's owner, Peter Thiel, as a part of his Founders Fund. Palantir is controversial in itself because it is used as a part of mass government surveillance systems, including facial recognition software and AI, which it has supplied to ICE in the USA as it incarcerates an estimated 70,000 people.

Many companies are rolling out ID verification services due to the implementation of the Online Safety Act in the UK, which requires users to verify their age in order to access large swathes of the internet. However, after Discord's swift u-turn regarding its Persona "experiment," Twitch has stepped into the firing line.

"I hate this on so many levels," fellow VTuber Reneta Scian replies to Tawny Code Cat's post. "As if it wasn't difficult enough having documents that don't match how you present yourself, we're talking about a government run by people who want to collect data on trans people. We have good reasons to find this kind of surveillance dangerous [and] invasive."

At present, it seems that this ID verification check will only impact some creators trying to receive their first payout from the streaming platform. According to a Twitch walkthrough page, "Some streamers may be required to verify their identity before receiving their first payout. If your payout is on hold, you'll see a message in your Payout Eligibility Panel and receive email notifications with instructions to complete identity verification through Persona, Twitch's verification service." There is no further clarification on who this will impact, although Tawny Code Cat is Canadian, so it won't just be streamers based in the USA.

With age verification processes rolling out across the web, the likes of Patreon, DoorDash, and Roblox all use Persona to verify users' ages and identities. If you're serious about online privacy - which the number of you browsing our list of the best VPNs would suggest - anything involving Persona will probably worry you. However, there are few alternatives at present, other than quelling that urge for a middle-aged career change to become a Twitch streamer. Public pressure helped Discord choose another path, and perhaps the same could be done for Twitch, but it's no guarantee. Until that time, creators will be forced to use the service or forfeit their pay.