Comment by password4321
4 months ago
In case anyone is not aware:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39444500 Keep your phone number private with Signal usernames (2024-02-20, 1422 points, 890 comments)
4 months ago
In case anyone is not aware:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39444500 Keep your phone number private with Signal usernames (2024-02-20, 1422 points, 890 comments)
This is different though. PP is saying that you require a phone number to sign up, and phone numbers are being used to match your account to your user name.
"As a new default, your phone number will no longer be visible to everyone in Signal."
https://support.signal.org/hc/en-us/articles/6712070553754-P...
"Signal does not send your phone number to anyone unless you have enabled that others can see it and then you send them a message or make a call to them."
https://support.signal.org/hc/en-us/articles/360007061452-Do...
Neither of these are the issue, the issue is the required association of a phone number with a Signal account. You cannot register a Signal account without a phone number.
It's something you'd want to avoid if your life, liberty or well-being are at risk if you're de-anonymized.
4 replies →
This doesn't address the security problem
17 replies →
This entire post does not follow
Agreed as far as governments tracking Signal sign-ups. For a long time though user names were not even supported between Signal users.