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 month ago* (last edited 1 month 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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[-] herseycokguzelolacak@lemmy.ml -3 points 1 month ago

Signal is like TSA: it's security theater. Any entity serious about security will not do these things that Signal is doing:

Hostility to non-Google appstores
Using phone numbers and SMS for signup
US-based entitity controlling the ecosystem

[-] icelimit@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 month ago

So what messaging platform is actually serious about security per the points you have described?

[-] herseycokguzelolacak@lemmy.ml -2 points 1 month ago

SimpleX is promising, but seems very new.

Telegram is better than Signal on many angles, but has other problems.

I don't think there is a perfect app yet. But Signal's aggressive marketing is security-theater, not real security.

[-] Lychee@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 month ago

Using SimpleX for some time now, can only recommend.. only had an issue in France, though last time it just worked.

[-] Schlemmy@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Telegram as a platform is amazing. Feature rich while still easy to use. Easy to create useful bots too. Sadly the rest is questionable.

[-] herseycokguzelolacak@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 month ago

Telegram is what Signal is pretending to be. Telegram has other serious problems, but still lightyears ahead.

[-] dessalines@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 month ago

There's a lot of dead accounts downvoting you BTW.

this post was submitted on 10 Sep 2025

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