• mox@lemmy.sdf.org
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    8 months ago

    A number is still needed to register I believe.

    Indeed, which makes their headline a bit misleading. Giving Signal your phone number is not keeping it private.

    • PersonalDevKit@aussie.zone
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      8 months ago

      I thought peoples big problem with it was not wanting to give others their number to use signal? Like I meet Joe Blog online and don’t want to give him my real number to chat.

      Less people worried that signal had their number?

      • fuzzzerd@programming.dev
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        8 months ago

        Seems the second group is a vocal minority. This feature helps the first group, but doesn’t help the second group.

        According to Signal, the first group is the larger group and this helps the most users of Signal.

        Could it be better? Sure. This is still a good step in terms of privacy, even though it doesn’t really improve anonymity.

        • preasket@lemy.lol
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          8 months ago

          Personally, I care about the phone number requirement not because I don’t want to reveal it to Signal servers, but because it limits access to Signal for people in countries that block their SMS service - registration messages just don’t arrive

          • XTornado@lemmy.ml
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            8 months ago

            It’s specific to signal? Like they want to block people registering or what’s up with that SMS block?

            • EngineerGaming@feddit.nl
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              8 months ago

              Not specific to Signal. I believe he was referring to places where Twilio doesn’t serve, for example because of sanctions.

      • delirious_owl@discuss.online
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        8 months ago

        Putting a SIM card in a phone exposes it to enormous surface area of attack. People have been asking to register with anonymous emails instead of a phone number, like Wire has had for years

      • mox@lemmy.sdf.org
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        8 months ago

        I thought peoples big problem with it was not wanting to give others their number to use signal?

        The issue is that giving your phone number to Signal Messenger LLC is giving it to others, and therefore not keeping it private in the usual sense of the word.

        Some people may be unconcerned about a corporation knowing their number vs. their contacts knowing their number, but that doesn’t diminish the misleading aspect of this headline.

    • RayJW@sh.itjust.works
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      8 months ago

      Wrong, it still keeps it private but not anonymous. It’s not the same concept and for most thread models knowing that you use Signal is not really an issue, especially since with this feature no one can check if you have one if you don’t give them your username unless they have access to Signal servers in which case they still have nothing except the knowledge that you have an account.

    • 9tr6gyp3@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      They do a lot of work to keep your phone number private, or at least any data that is tied to it. This username upgrade is solely for someone to communicate over Signal without needing to hand over your phone number.

      For example, you can now be in group chats with internet strangers by just giving them your username.

      On top of that, once MLS is adopted, you can communicate with other messengers as well.