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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[-] Sailor88@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

We should be working to get more people to use XMPP rather than signal, Whatsapp, etc.

[-] autonomoususer@lemmy.world 3 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago)

Yes but Signal is libre. If you're already failing, stop making it harder. Getting others to care first, then go for decentralisation.

this post was submitted on 10 Sep 2025

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