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Fact check: Does Discord collect users' IP addresses and how long are they stored?
Executive Summary
Discord does collect information that can include users’ IP addresses as part of device and location data, but its public Privacy Policy does not spell out a specific, fixed retention period for IP addresses; instead it states that personal information is retained “as long as needed” for the purposes collected and typically for the duration of an active account [1] [2]. Independent commentary and community reports suggest that IP addresses may be accessible to Discord for security, abuse investigation, and legal compliance purposes and that, in some cases, retention can extend up to around two years for problematic accounts according to community discussion, though that specific duration is not confirmed in Discord’s official policy [3] [4]. The core factual gap is that Discord’s public documentation describes categories and purposes of collection but omits a clear, public timeline for how long IP addresses are stored.
1. Why IPs matter and what Discord publicly says about device and location data
Discord’s published policy frames collection around device identifiers, location signals and connection data, which implies IP addresses are part of routine telemetry used to operate the service, perform security checks, and route traffic; the policy emphasizes operational and safety uses but stops short of listing IP addresses by name or giving a retention schedule [1]. The company’s guidance on retention reiterates a general rule: Discord retains personal data “as long as it is needed for the purposes” it was collected and generally while an account is active, but that statement is broad and does not isolate IP addresses or set an exact fixed timeframe [2] [1]. This leaves an intentional interpretive space: operational needs (anti-abuse, law enforcement requests, diagnostics) typically require IP logging, but the policy language treats retention as purpose-based rather than time-based [1] [2].
2. Community reports and secondary sources that fill the silence
Forum discussions and technical commentaries have reported that Discord’s infrastructure can retain IP and connection logs for extended periods when accounts are flagged for abuse or investigations, with one community thread from May 2024 asserting retention “up to two years” for problematic users [4]. Security and privacy articles note Discord does not offer end-to-end encryption for text and that traffic is encrypted in transit, implying Discord’s servers see metadata such as IPs—these analyses use service behavior and public statements to infer practical handling of IPs though they do not cite a primary retention policy for IP-specific retention [3] [5]. These secondary signals converge on a pattern: Discord collects connection-level data for operational and safety reasons, while exact retention durations are not consistently documented in one official public statement [3] [4].
3. Where official language leaves important questions unresolved
Discord’s repeated phrasing that data are kept “as long as needed” and “generally while you have an active account” provides a lawful and flexible custody model but does not meet a transparency standard that would let users know whether their IP is purged after days, months, or years, and under what conditions exceptions apply for investigations or abuse [2] [1]. Archived versions of Discord’s policy show similar wording over time, indicating the company has favored purpose-based retention rather than itemized timelines for specific technical logs such as IP addresses [6] [1]. For privacy-minded users and regulators, that is the central factual gap: operational necessity for IPs is acknowledged, but the policy lacks an IP-specific retention chart or deletion schedule [1].
4. How to interpret the practical implications for users and investigators
Given the public texts and community reporting, the practical implication is that Discord can and does record IPs as part of service operation and abuse handling, and those records can persist beyond immediate sessions when needed for investigations; community-sourced estimates like “up to two years” reflect plausible practice but are not an official company guarantee [4] [3]. Discord’s mention of retention tied to account activity suggests most routine logs may be retained while an account remains active, while records tied to abuse or legal processes could be kept longer under internal policies not published in detail [2] [1]. This means users seeking firm guarantees on deletion should treat public policy as incomplete and consider technical mitigations (e.g., VPNs) if they require obscuring their IP from the service itself [3] [5].
5. What is missing, what to ask Discord, and how to verify
The verifiable facts are clear: Discord collects connection-and-device data that includes IP-derived location signals and retains personal information for purpose-based durations, but it has not published an IP-specific retention timeline or a searchable retention schedule [1] [2]. Users and oversight bodies should ask Discord for an explicit IP retention policy, conditions for extended retention, and deletion workflows, and request transparency reports or retention charts that enumerate log types and timeframes. Until Discord publishes that level of specificity, researchers must rely on policy language plus community and technical analysis to infer practices, which produces plausible but unconfirmed retention windows such as the community-reported two-year figure for flagged accounts [4] [3].