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this post was submitted on 27 Mar 2025
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Privacy
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Signal recently implemented "usernames" instead of phone numbers
But still, to use it, you need a phone number, which in many countries can only be purchased with a passport. That's the main rule. If privacy is really needed, personal identification should be excluded so that it's basically impossible to determine who owns the account.
Pretty sure you still need a phone number for an account, though - the usernames are just for sharing your contact with other people.
Most peoples' phone numbers are easily linked to their identity. Which means the government knows who's using Signal.
Usernames are definitely an improvement, but this is a fundamental limitation in Signal's design.
If you want to get really technical, each Signal account actually has a 'secret' account number that the phone number is linked to. The phone number requirement is actually a means to reduce spam and scam accounts.
So they could have replaced it with, like, email verification or something, but they instead stuck to the design that lets governments identify all users?
Then I'd delete my old phone number account and start fresh.. not exactly the best option but all things considered you might have too
Much better.