Changes to Sentri for Discord

Today, we were notified by Discord that despite the fact that Sentri...

• Fully complies with Discord's Developer Guidelines
• Fully complies with Discord's Terms of Service
• Fully complies with Discord's Privacy Policy
• Has one of the lowest data footprints of any Discord bot
• Has one of the simplest Privacy Policies/ToU's of any Discord bot

Despite all of this, they would be "permanently denying it verification due to some concerns regarding the bot's operation".

They continued, "In this case, it appears your bot offers functionality that violates a provision in our Developer Policy. Under the Policy, you agree to not use the APIs in any way that doesn’t comply with all applicable laws, regulations, and third party rights. While we cannot share specific details regarding the functionality in question, our review found that your bot infringes on this portion of the Policy." They included a link to the policy in question.

Fully understandable that Discord would want to keep their platform safe, so legal was asked to break down their Terms, and find what they saw non compliant. Here's the rundown.

• Do not modify a Discord user’s account without explicit permission from the Discord user. Functionality that intends to make any changes to a Discord account, for example adding the account to a server, must clearly and properly inform the Discord account owner of the changes and receive explicit permission to enact the changes.
  We’re not doing that.

• Do not collect, solicit, or deceive users into providing user login credentials. Under no circumstances may you or your Application solicit, obtain, or request login credentials from Discord users in any way. This includes information such as passwords or user access or login tokens.
  We’re not doing that either.

• Do not target users with advertisements or marketing. Messaging to Discord users from any Application or developer team should be relevant to the function of the Application and may not contain material unrelated to an Application’s function or information.
  Nope, we’re not doing this either. You know who does do this, that Discord allows to because they pay for it? MEE6. Discord enforcement is selective.

• Do not use API Data for any purpose outside of what is necessary to provide your stated functionality. You may not request, access, or use any API Data for any purpose other than as necessary to provide your Application’s stated (and approved through App Review, as applicable) functionality; provided that you may also use API Data for the purpose of improving your Application only if it has been aggregated or de-identified such that it cannot be associated with, or used to identify, any individual.
  We believe that our terms of  data transfer, usage, and collection are 100% honest, transparent, and acceptable when placed side by side of any other bot available. Bulletproof.

• You may not mine or scrape any data, content, or information available on or through Discord services (as defined in our Terms of Service).
  We’re not doing this.

• Do not use API Data to: profile Discord users, their identities, or relationships with other users; to discriminate against anyone based on personal or protected classifications as defined in our Community Guidelines; or for eligibility considerations for benefits or for purposes such as employment, housing, insurance, or otherwise.
  We’re not doing this either.
  

• Furthermore, you may not, and may not use your Application, to obtain API Data or transmit data to Discord (i) of persons under the age of 13 or the relevant age of digital consent in their jurisdiction (if older) or (ii) that includes protected health information, financial information, or other sensitive information under applicable law, except to the extent specifically allowed by our terms for a given Discord service or necessary to process a financial transaction as specifically enabled by a Discord service;
  We’re not doing this either.

• Do not disclose API data to any advertising network, data broker, or other advertising or monetization related service.
  Nope

• Do not sell, license, or otherwise commercialize any API Data or Discord services (as defined in our Terms of Service, e.g., Nitro subscriptions).
  Nope

• Do not direct your Application to people who are under the age of 13 or the minimum age of digital consent in their applicable countries. Our services are only for people who are at least 13 years old and meet the minimum age of digital consent in their applicable countries.
  No, we clearly state multiple times to kindly refrain from using our services if you are under the age of 13.

• Do not attempt to re-identify, de-anonymize, unscramble, unencrypt, or reverse hash or reverse engineer API Data from the form in which you obtain it.
  Nopers, not doing this either.

• Do not use API Data in any way that goes against Discord users’ expectations. This includes frequently sending unsolicited direct messages, sending direct messages not directly related to maintaining or improving an Application's core functionality, or making unsolicited changes to user data or to a user’s access to Discord services.
  Nope, not doing this either.

• Do not use the API for any dangerous or illegal activity. This includes, but is not limited to, activities that facilitate or promote:

1. Death, bodily harm, and/or personal injury;

1. Environmental damage (such as the operation of nuclear facilities, air traffic control); or

1. Unlawful online gambling.

Discord could not present us with any instance of this occuring.

• Do not use the APIs in any way to violate, or to enable or promote others to violate, the Discord Community Guidelines. As described in the Developer Terms, you are responsible for ensuring that your Application is not used to violate any of the Terms. We take into consideration the abundance, explicit negligence, and intentional enabling of violating behavior when assessing appropriate enforcement. Prohibited behaviors and activities include those that:

1. Defraud users;

1. Deceive users via impersonation (outside of clearly labeled satire, parody, or fan accounts), including impersonating other Applications, Discord employees or partners, or Discord services. This includes deception via your and your Application’s account and identity;

1. Distribute adult content to users under the age of 18, and without age-restricted labels where applicable and appropriate to users 18 and older;

1. Unless your Application is labeled as age-restricted, you will make sure your Application is appropriate for users under the age of eighteen (18) and complies with all applicable laws (including those applicable to users under the age of eighteen (18)).

1. Or enable, promote, or organize any on or off-platform harassment.

Discord could not present us with any evidence of this occuring.

• Do not promote offensive, vulgar, violent, or violent extremist content, messages, or images. This includes the fields in an Application’s Settings page in the Discord Developer Portal.
  Nope

• Do not attempt to manipulate engagement. You may not participate, enable, or promote the inflating of server membership with bot or user accounts or mass creation of user accounts to redeem rewards or send messages. You may not automate messages to be sent for the purpose of maintaining message activity in a Discord community.
  Nope

• Do not contact users outside of Discord without their explicit consent. This means you should not contact Discord users outside of the Discord platform by using any API Data (including any data obtained, disclosed, or inferred through a user’s use of your Application).
  Nope

• Do not enable your developer team, Application, or other users to bypass or circumvent Discord’s privacy, safety, and security measures. Your Application must respect user-initiated blocks, bans, kicks, mutes, visibility settings (such as users opting out of displaying connections or permission settings), and must not enable any form of masking account identities (such as obscuring Discord usernames).
  Nope

So, the takeaway here is that Discord just felt like creating problems. That's honestly it. We went thru the policies they allege are being violated, and can equally say line-by-line, they have no clue what they're talking about, and hired incompetent support agents to fill oversized shoes.

However, they did not forget to mention that we have the opportunity to "try again". But this time, we'll take a completely different approach. We're going to host a rather unexciting bot on Discord so that a Discord NPC can verify it, and then it can finally serve users.

As a result, there will be some changes made to Sentri's links in order to undergo the verification process and ultimately provide a unique service. Discord may portray themselves as protectors of their users, but in reality, they often act as obstacles and deliberate hindrances to beneficial features and applications they cannot monetize, nor spend the time to develop.

Without any shame, if this is the game we have to play, we'll find a way to get our bot verified on Discord, even if it means hiding certain aspects. However, it's ironic to think that hiding things contributes to transparency, isn't it, Discord? You try the honest route, they come up with some nonsense. You go the dishonest route, they won't blink an eye. Game on.

You can invite Sentri's newer application instance here, and it will go live 8/10/23.

Your settings will be transferred.