Discord is working on a new feature for its mobile app that will make it easier for you to find and add friends. The messaging service is currently testing the feature, called Find Your Friends, with a small number of users. But the company has already shared how it will work once it rolls out with a future release.
In a recent post on the r/discordapp subreddit, a member of Discord’s product team shared details about the Find Your Friends feature. According to the post, it’s an opt-in feature that will let you discover and be discoverable by people in your phone’s contact list and send them a friend request on Discord.
If the thought of sharing your contact list with Discord worries you, there is some good news. Discord claims that it will cryptographically hash all the phone numbers it syncs from your contact list, and it will use this cryptographically hashed data to detect a match while looking for friends. The service won’t upload contact names and won’t store raw phone numbers to prevent any mishaps. This process also prevents spam and ensures that you’re only matched with people who you know and not with those who you’ve blocked. Discord has also assured that disabling the Find Your Friends feature or deleting your Discord account will automatically remove all your contact data from its servers, and the service won’t use your contact information for any other purpose.
