Comment by LudwigNagasena

1 year ago

> doesn't require any personal identifier

Do they still not require ID when you buy a SIM card in Ukraine?

Actually I was wrong. Just checked and Telegram does require a phone number to sign up. I haven't used it myself much, but was relaying the general reasons why regular people use it.

  • You need it to register, but afaik it's not shown to anyone in any way.

    You can just grab any prepaid SIM and use it if that's your style

    • Yep but you still need to have it staying activated and on whenever you need to activate the telegram app on a device.

      I was using telegram for one single usage, which was a group organizing local meetups events for expats. When I switched smartphone I really didn't want to install an app just for one group and would have preferred using telegram web to consult it occasionnally. Every time I tried logging in on a computer/smartphone it told me to validate the login from telegram on my original, now wiped clean, smartphone. I just gave up.

    • > You need it to register, but afaik it's not shown to anyone in any way.

      Then why is a phone number needed to register? If PII is "not shown to anyone in any way" then it should be completely unecessary to provide it to the service. Do not let that particular wool be pulled over your eyes.

    • Yeah but the server can correlate it to all messages sent by you, and law enforcement can link server logs to your real identity thrpugh your telco.

      4 replies →

yes, you can just get a prepaid SIM virtually anywhere. though there is an option to add your ID for security purposes