4 ms·
Still asks for a phone number. Useless.
by 13 12y ago
Still asks for a phone number. Useless.
- tptacek 12y agoYou want to read this conversation between Matt Blaze and The Grugq before making your mind up on that: https://twitter.com/thegrugq/status/572472282028744704 https://twitter.com/thegrugq/status/572472282028744704
- moe 12y agoI agree with 13. There needs to be a way to have an account that is not tied to a SIM card or any kind of phone number. I'm frankly astonished there's even a debate about that.
- 13 12y agoI'm just astonished that there's even justification for it not being an option. Bang on about easy discovery all you want, there's lots of people who don't want to give out their phone number for no good reason to some strangers.
- mullen 12y agoGet a Google Voice number (Free. Use throw away account) and use that. There are instructions out there on how to connect a Google Voice number to Signal.
- tptacek 12y agoThis is nowhere nearly as simple as "you just published your phone number to TextSecure": https://whispersystems.org/blog/contact-discovery/ https://whispersystems.org/blog/contact-discovery/ It is a very real security issue, too. What Matt Blaze is talking about with "extra namespaces" is a giant piece of attack surface TextSecure is avoiding.
- moe 12y agoYou keep talking about "discovery". I don't want to be discovered. I don't want my Signal identity to be tied to any phone number.
- TillE 12y agoUse other tools. There's plenty of alternatives for secure communication. The OWS apps have a specific purpose that's closely tied to how smartphones are used.
- wtbob 12y agoI think that I'd be happier with social-network discovery: I can see my friends, and those of their friends whom they have shared with me; I can then ask to become friends with those whom I know, and then see their friends, and so forth. My namespace would be local to me, but I could browse my friends' namespaces as well.
- darklajid 12y agoWe're getting back to the issue of 'usability' though. My desktop has no phone number, my tablet has no phone number and .. I have multiple phones, which have different phone numbers. I would like to use a single IM account (hey, like with mail. Or xmpp). TextSecure doesn't allow that. TextSecure is not usable in these scenarios. It's not about "Could TextSecure leak my number", it's more about "The current architecture of TextSecure makes no sense for these use cases and seems to be quite close to WhatsApp et al - even before their agreement". A telephone number is not an identifier, it's not stable and it's not something you can expect as 'given'. This is a broken system. As 13, the thread starter, mentioned.
- edwintorok 12y agoHaving a way to work without a phone number would also be a requirement to use it on a desktop/laptop or tablet.
- jlund 12y agoYou can install Signal on a WiFi-only iPad and use any phone number to register. This will also be the case for the upcoming desktop client.
- aw3c2 12y agoNot useless, but not as great as it could be indeed. I would love to publish my textsecure contact details online but I would never publish my phone number.