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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[-] Amaterasu@lemmy.world 2 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 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.

[-] dessalines@lemmy.ml 1 points 8 hours ago

Even with full e2ee, they still have

Your real identity (via phone numbers)
The real identities of everyone you talk to
Who you messaged, and when

With this its easy to build social networking graphs, and tag everyone implicated with a targeted account as an accomplice. Reading and trying to build meaning from the e2ee message content is almost less important than social graphs.

[-] herseycokguzelolacak@lemmy.ml 2 points 10 hours ago

E2EE isn't the magic solution everyone claims to be: https://xkcd.com/538/

this post was submitted on 10 Sep 2025

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