Ultra-private messaging service Signal will no longer require you to give your phone number to strangers just to receive their messages.
Signal will soon default to using Signal usernames instead of phone numbers to make new connections. This new feature will be a considerable boon to privacy, allowing you to keep your phone number private while giving you much more control over how you communicate with people. You will still need a phone number to sign up-which has its upsides and downsides-but now you can at least keep it to yourself.
If you are privacy-conscious enough to have chosen Signal for your messaging, you probably get annoyed whenever you have to use your phone number to connect with another user. Phone numbers are used for all kinds of sensitive tasks, like getting two-factor login codes from your bank, but-like your equally sensitive social security number-they are often used in public or given to untrusted strangers.
"For years, Signal has kept your messages private, your profile information (like your name and profile photo) private, your contacts private, and your groups private - among much else. Now we're taking that one step further by making your phone number on Signal more private," said Randall Sarafa on the Signal Blog
Signal Usernames
Signal usernames are disposable codes you can give other people instead of sharing your phone number. They use that username to connect with you in the usual way, and then you can message each other, participate in group chats, and even make calls.
As already mentioned, this method has the advantage of keeping your private phone number private, but it also has other benefits. For example, you can't easily change your phone number, but it's trivial to trash a Signal username and create another one. If you are attending a conference event, you can make a new username, use that for the duration, and then delete it and create a new one.
Another significant advantage of usernames is that they are not publicly available and non-guessable. That means no spam and nobody stalking you via your phone number.
Sharing usernames is also easier than sharing phone numbers. You can, of course, just tell people using your words, but you can also generate a QR code, which you could then screenshot and operate as a lock-screen wallpaper for quick-sharing at that conference.
Why Do You Still Need a Phone Number?
Why do you still need a phone number to sign up for Signal? After all, if Signal is so into privacy, wouldn't it be happy not to have to use any identifying information for its users? Requiring a phone number for signups is better for the platform's overall security.
"Phone numbers provide a hurdle for account creation, especially in bulk, due to the cost and logistics of obtaining them. Easier-to-acquire identifiers like email addresses or usernames may lower this barrier, potentially increasing the number of spam or fraudulent accounts," said Michael Ibekie of MyDataRemoval in an interview with Tech Times. "Also, phone numbers can tie an account to a real-world identity and deter malicious behavior due to the risk of discovery. Other identifiers might offer greater anonymity, emboldening bad actors to engage in spamming, scams, or cybercrimes without fear of repercussions."
You may want to keep using your phone number anyway. You don't have to use Signal usernames. You can choose to require that all communications come via usernames, but you don't have to change anything if you don't want to. Or you can use both: keep your phone number active so any family and friends can message you quickly, but use your Signal username when communicating with strangers, new acquaintances, or professional connections.
And there's even better news. WhatsApp, the default messaging service in Europe and growing elsewhere, will get usernames soon. And if you use Apple's iMessage, it's already possible to use it without your phone number if you use an email address instead.
We use messaging so much these days, from booking restaurant tables to sending a doctor's prescription to a pharmacist to making an appointment for a haircut, that it seems nuts to give out our personal phone numbers.
In a way, it still seems kind of nuts to have such a permanent and personal identifier tied to the use of our pocket computers, especially as we rarely need to make actual telephone calls anymore (FaceTime Audio and WhatsApp voice calls are more straightforward and usually of better quality), so anything that keeps those numbers safer is welcome.
About the author: Charlie Sorrel has been writing about technology, and its effects on society and the planet, for almost two decades. Previously, you could find him at Wired's Gadget Lab, Fast Company's CoExist, Cult of Mac, and Mac Stories. He also writes for his own site, StraightNoFilter.com, Lifewire Tech News, and iFixit.
