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submitted 3 months ago by BrikoX@lemmy.zip to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

Yes, you can use Signal without sharing your personal phone number. Here’s how I did it.

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[-] mox@lemmy.sdf.org 34 points 3 months ago

That risk is not just theoretical. I made a test account (on another service; not Signal) using a free anonymous SMS number. A few months later, the account had been hijacked.

Of course, if it's a disposable account, then having it hijacked after you're done with it might be a good thing.

[-] Greg@lemmy.ca 11 points 3 months ago

Signal has account pins now so I don't think the attack vector is as large as it used to be

[-] Neon@lemmy.world 18 points 3 months ago

They can't "take over" your account, but they can "override" it and delete yours.

[-] atro_city@fedia.io 1 points 3 months ago
[-] PoorPocketsMcNewHold@lemmy.ml 8 points 3 months ago

Register a new account over that phone number. They can't get into any previous accounts register with that phone number. They could potentially manage to find the pin if the previous user really used a guessable one, but then again, they won't be able to check the previous messages and the linked owner of that account will be warned of that new connection.

[-] atro_city@fedia.io 8 points 3 months ago

I don't think that's possible with a registration lock unless you are inactive for longer than 7 days.

Enabling a registration lock triggers a 7-day inactivity timer if your number is registered on another device.

this post was submitted on 17 Jul 2024
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