this post was submitted on 01 Feb 2025
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[–] zloubida -1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

you don’t need to give anyone your phone number

You do not need to give your number anymore to use Signal.

[–] amzd 9 points 1 week ago (2 children)

You cannot make a Signal account without phone number so that’s not true.

[–] zloubida 5 points 1 week ago (2 children)

But we are not obliged to share it with our correspondents.

[–] autonomoususer 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Unregistered users can't chat, so it needs a number, as OP said.

[–] amzd -2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Yeah I’d rather not share my identity though. Seems like an odd requirement for a “private” messenger

[–] zloubida 12 points 1 week ago (2 children)
[–] autonomoususer 4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Signal is not anonymous.

[–] amzd -4 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] Zangoose 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Signal is private in that other people can't intercept your messages, including signal. The signal app is open-source so you can be relatively certain it's not tracking your decrypted messages, unlike closed-source apps like WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger or any other private social media.

Signal is not anonymous from an account standpoint, because you need a phone number to sign up, even if you can choose not to display it in your account.

[–] autonomoususer -1 points 1 week ago

This does nothing to fix the problem.

[–] gi1242 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

you need a phone number to make an account. but you can chat with others without divulging your phone number

[–] autonomoususer 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Unregistered users can't chat, so a number must be divulged to Signal, as OP said.