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Twitter doesn't require a phone number anymore. You can use it via the website or a mobile app. I have a an account from 2014 and it does not have a phone numbe

Twitter doesn't require a phone number anymore. You can use it via the website or a mobile app. I have a an account from 2014 and it does not have a phone number associated.

guessmyname 4y ago
> Twitter doesn't require a phone number anymore. You can use it via the website or a mobile app. You used the word ”anymore”. Obviously, you are implying that Twitter required a phone number in the past, but because you did not specify the time of the change, we must assume. It could be that phone numbers are not required since an hour ago or a year ago. Regardless, if it was a requirement, chances are high that a good portion of the 400+M users in this (supposed) data breach were encouraged to share their phone number with Twitter. Not to dismiss your contribution but if you have to write ”anymore” I don’t see the point of your comment.
- partiallypro 4y ago
  Twitter originally was done via SMS, that's why status lengths were limited to 140 characters. So, obviously you needed a phone number when it first started.
  - evan_ 4y ago
    It was never only sms though.
  - mcny 4y ago
    > Twitter originally was done via SMS, that's why status lengths were limited to 140 characters. So, obviously you needed a phone number when it first started. This isn't what we are talking about. We are talking about requiring users to "prove they are human" by giving Twitter a phone number and then entering an authentication code that they text to that number. It doesn't accomplish anything because I can get a new SIM card and a month of "unlimited" talk and text prepaid service for about USD 20(?). I didn't think of it much but looking back it is clearly a data grab.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- mcny 4y ago
  I don't know if something has changed recently but at least as of 2016 when I signed up for a new account, I got immediately placed on a suspicious user list and had to use a phone number to prove I was a human. It was just a prepaid cell phone number that I don't even remember anymore so I don't know how it helped anything but yeah. I suspect twitter did this to pretty much everyone.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
0xf00ff00f 4y ago
You can create an account without a phone number, but the account is suspended as soon as you post anything.
- Max-Ganz-II 4y ago
  Yes. This happened to me. I made an account, not using a phone number. I then did not use it, for something like a month. I posted - and the account was suspended, I was emailed, "you have violated our T&C, please provide your phone number to validate your account". I may be wrong, but to my eye, they were attempting by deception to trick and force users into handing over their phone numbers. I explained I had no phone number, and I had not posted at all, so it was hard to see how I had violated the T&C, and the account was unfrozen, and has been fine since then.
- frx 4y ago
  Exactly. This happened to me multiple times. I even had accounts for some of my side projects with phone numbers that got suspended.
altdataseller 4y ago
What about for multi-factor auth? Are these phone numbers leaked too?
sigotirandolas 4y ago
Stallman has a note about it from about 2017 along with a note that one of the criteria was being a Tor user at some point: https://web.archive.org/web/20170224183228/https://stallman.org/twitter.html https://web.archive.org/web/20170224183228/https://stallman....
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

Twitter doesn't require a phone number anymore. You can use it via the website or a mobile app. I have a an account from 2014 and it does not have a phone number associated.

guessmyname 4y ago

> Twitter doesn't require a phone number anymore. You can use it via the website or a mobile app. You used the word ”anymore”. Obviously, you are implying that Twitter required a phone number in the past, but because you did not specify the time of the change, we must assume. It could be that phone numbers are not required since an hour ago or a year ago. Regardless, if it was a requirement, chances are high that a good portion of the 400+M users in this (supposed) data breach were encouraged to share their phone number with Twitter. Not to dismiss your contribution but if you have to write ”anymore” I don’t see the point of your comment.

partiallypro 4y ago
Twitter originally was done via SMS, that's why status lengths were limited to 140 characters. So, obviously you needed a phone number when it first started.
- evan_ 4y ago
  It was never only sms though.
- mcny 4y ago
  > Twitter originally was done via SMS, that's why status lengths were limited to 140 characters. So, obviously you needed a phone number when it first started. This isn't what we are talking about. We are talking about requiring users to "prove they are human" by giving Twitter a phone number and then entering an authentication code that they text to that number. It doesn't accomplish anything because I can get a new SIM card and a month of "unlimited" talk and text prepaid service for about USD 20(?). I didn't think of it much but looking back it is clearly a data grab.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
mcny 4y ago
I don't know if something has changed recently but at least as of 2016 when I signed up for a new account, I got immediately placed on a suspicious user list and had to use a phone number to prove I was a human. It was just a prepaid cell phone number that I don't even remember anymore so I don't know how it helped anything but yeah. I suspect twitter did this to pretty much everyone.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]

0xf00ff00f 4y ago

You can create an account without a phone number, but the account is suspended as soon as you post anything.

Max-Ganz-II 4y ago
Yes. This happened to me. I made an account, not using a phone number. I then did not use it, for something like a month. I posted - and the account was suspended, I was emailed, "you have violated our T&C, please provide your phone number to validate your account". I may be wrong, but to my eye, they were attempting by deception to trick and force users into handing over their phone numbers. I explained I had no phone number, and I had not posted at all, so it was hard to see how I had violated the T&C, and the account was unfrozen, and has been fine since then.
frx 4y ago
Exactly. This happened to me multiple times. I even had accounts for some of my side projects with phone numbers that got suspended.

altdataseller 4y ago

What about for multi-factor auth? Are these phone numbers leaked too?

sigotirandolas 4y ago

Stallman has a note about it from about 2017 along with a note that one of the criteria was being a Tor user at some point: https://web.archive.org/web/20170224183228/https://stallman.org/twitter.html https://web.archive.org/web/20170224183228/https://stallman....

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]