Signal needs a phone number. Why are we dismissing this as privacy versus anonymity when governments are blocking the registration SMS? (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by autonomoususer@lemmy.world to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

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I really don’t get why so many people are turning this into a privacy versus anonymity debate when the real problem is censorship.

Yes, Signal needs a phone number to sign up, but replacing that with an email or username doesn’t make it anonymous. The real issue is that governments are blocking the registration SMS, so people can’t even sign up for the app in the first place.

Sure, there are workarounds, but most people aren’t going to jump through all those extra hoops just to use an app. If we want to spread privacy, how do we do that when Signal's phone number requirement is actively working against us?

Instead of arguing over privacy versus anonymity, shouldn’t we focus on making sure everyone can access Signal without issues? What do you think?

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[-] dessalines@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 day ago

shouldn’t we focus on making sure everyone can access Signal without issues?

I'd rather ppl not use US-based centralized services, hosted on amazon's servers, and subject to national security letters.

There are far better self-hostable alternatives that aren't hosted in burgerland.

[-] Amaterasu@lemmy.world 3 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago)

Not opposed to the overall message but for the national security letter it worth remind people that the communication is E2EE, before propagating some certain level of panic.

[-] WalnutLum@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 day ago

I know of matrix, what are some other alternatives?

Also a protocol that got falsely maligned during the crypto days was secure scuttlebutt, and people should be talking about it more.

[-] dessalines@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Matrix, SimpleX, Briar(not a huge fan of this one since its android only), XMPP (only if you have encryption addon).

[-] autonomoususer@lemmy.world 1 points 22 hours ago

https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-Server

But you're right about decentralisation. The main issue is:

https://lemmy.world/comment/19308972

[-] dessalines@lemmy.ml 2 points 21 hours ago

They went a whole year without publishing updates to repo a few years back, until there was a big community backlash over it. Also you have no guarantee that's what they're running other than: "just trust us".

[-] autonomoususer@lemmy.world -2 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago)

What is this nonsense? Libre software has never meant we control other people's servers.

this post was submitted on 10 Sep 2025

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