this post was submitted on 08 Oct 2025
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Privacy

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Nowadays, a majority of apps require you to sign up with your email or even worse your phone number. If you have a phone number attached to your name, meaning you went to a cell service/phone provider, and you gave them your ID, then no matter what app you use, no matter how private it says it is, it is not private. There is NO exception to this. Your identity is instantly tied to that account.

Signal is not private. I recommend Simplex or another peer to peer onion messaging app. They don't require email or phone number. So as long as you protect your IP you are anonymous

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[–] SteleTrovilo@beehaw.org 4 points 3 days ago (12 children)

Be specific: what does Signal divilge about me to outsiders besides "I have used Signal"?

[–] unexpected@forum.guncadindex.com 1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (5 children)

Who you are specifically (name etc) and the same amount of information on everyone you have talked to on signal and when you talked. Basically everything except for the actual content of the messages.

[–] SteleTrovilo@beehaw.org 2 points 2 days ago (4 children)

This is vastly different from every other piece of information I've read about Signal. Please link me to a source for your claims.

[–] unexpected@forum.guncadindex.com 1 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago) (1 children)

If it is tied to a phone number then any information connected to the phone account will be connected to the signal account identity. And any identifying information attached to the method used to pay for the phone account will be attached to the phone account and consequently the signal account.

Typically people pay using credit or debit cards, so the identifying information of those bank accounts become attached to your signal account.

[–] SteleTrovilo@beehaw.org 1 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

So Signal doesn't provide anonymity. Is that all you're saying?

[–] unexpected@forum.guncadindex.com 1 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

Yes... and if it needs to be said, I am also directly implying that anonymity is a large and crucial part of privacy.

[–] SteleTrovilo@beehaw.org 1 points 18 hours ago

It needs to be said. Because anonymity is only one part of privacy.

Security is another part - in messaging, this means that the message cannot be spied on in transit, and cannot be altered in transit.

Authenticity is another part - you need to know that the message came from who it claims to have come from, and not elsewhere.

Signal does not provide anonymity, basically. But it guarantees security and authenticity beyond doubt. And this is useful - you can exchange secure information with people using Signal, knowing that it's not being spied on or altered, knowing that only the person you intend to see the data can see it, and knowing that they know that you sent it.

But yeah, if you want to send messages anonymously, other services are necessary.

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