199

Why does Signal want a phone number to register if it's supposedly privacy first? (programming.dev)

submitted 11 months ago by 0101100101@programming.dev to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

281 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I remember a time when visiting a website that opens a javacript dialog box asking for your name so the message "hi " could be displayed was baulked at.

Why does signal want a phone number to register? Is there a better alternative?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[-] Skankhunt420@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 month ago

What would you recommend as an alternative to Signal?

[-] ProdigalFrog@slrpnk.net 1 points 1 month ago

Not OP, but XMPP and Delta chat are good options.

For XMPP, the Movim client in particular is a good replacement for Discord, since it can do audio/video calls, as well as screenshare, and Discord-like spaces (channels with groups of rooms).

this post was submitted on 11 May 2025

199 points (86.7% liked)

Privacy

48182 readers

403 users here now

A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.

Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.

In this community everyone is welcome to post links and discuss topics related to privacy.

Some Rules

Posting a link to a website containing tracking isn't great, if contents of the website are behind a paywall maybe copy them into the post
Don't promote proprietary software
Try to keep things on topic
If you have a question, please try searching for previous discussions, maybe it has already been answered
Reposts are fine, but should have at least a couple of weeks in between so that the post can reach a new audience
Be nice :)

Related communities

much thanks to @gary_host_laptop for the logo design :)

founded 6 years ago

MODERATORS