this post was submitted on 10 Nov 2023
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110
'Signal tests usernames to avoid using phone numbers.' Great move? (cybernews.com)
submitted 1 year ago by woshang to c/technology
24 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

It seems useless to me, at least regarding the cybersecurity aspect. Of course, it's helpful when people ask for my contact information, and I don't want to share my phone number or email address.

But they still require information that could be used to prove or be linked to my identity for registration, right? This means a hacker could still reveal your IP address, phone number, email, and your passcode. Likewise, the development team can access these as well.

I know I'm overly cautious about my privacy, but that's just how I am.

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[–] fubo 10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

So if I claim fubo as a username on Signal, that means what? Nobody else can use that username? If so, it's another global namespace, same as Twitter; ten or twenty years in the future, someone's gonna want to be reclaiming disused usernames.

(What if I want to be fubo to some people, and MissCatPictures to other people? Can I do that from one phone? One phone number?)

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

In the current Staging implementation, you pick a username (which you can change), and the app picks a two-digit suffix to your username.

[–] fubo 19 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Oh, so can I keep trying until I get to be fubo69? Nice.

(I am a heavy Signal user; it's my primary messaging service for people I know IRL. It's where I post cute pictures of my housemates' cats. I really want the Signal folks to get stuff right and not mess it up.)

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Sure, unless the username+suffix is already taken.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

What if I want to be fubo to some people, and MissCatPictures to other people?

Use SimpleX

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The question is about the functionality of signal

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I meant only to address what I specifically quoted. The feature of using multiple identities, separately for each contact, is baked right into SimpleX and works amazingly well.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Sounds neat, I'll look into it

[–] AbidanYre 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

What if I want to be fubo to some people, and MissCatPictures to other people?

Jami allows that, and I think Cwtch does as well. SimpleX doesn't have usernames at all.