Why does Signal want a phone number to register if it's supposedly privacy first?
I remember a time when visiting a website that opens a javacript dialog box asking for your name so the message "hi
<name entered>
" could be displayed was baulked at.Why does signal want a phone number to register? Is there a better alternative?
Spam prevention
And discovery.
It's not an argument. Think about regular mobile numbers, are they preventing spams? No.
What kind of spam are you talking about
Scams, girls wanting to chat with you, incredible money opportunities...
I misread the comment you replied to originally (thought they were referring to bot spam prevention).. Signal doesn't work like the phone network, you can't necessarily just "call" or "text" a random person. There's also additional verification before you can send messages sometimes.
Are you seeing spam on signal? Do you even know why spam is possible on phone networks and what the difference is between phone networks and the internet?
The point, I believe, wasn't about spam but likely got derailed. It was probably about the phone number requirement being unnecessary. I'll just add that even if it is, it's a measure geared towards common users that often need to recover access to their accounts through means they're already familiar with, as is a verification SMS. It's not the safest nor the most private, but it's easier to deal with for most people. Whoever wants something that doesn't depend on a SIM or eSIM should try Briar and SimpleX. None of these will be a perfect solution for every single person though.
I don't know what is spam for you, but when you get three message requests from three girls respectively named Tania, Clara and Ella that are contacting you about you carrier or your management skills, I call it spam.
The way that Signal integrates phone number is odd because it opens up the spam door. O understand why Signal use phone numbers this way (to make "normies" adopt Signal more easily like WhatsApp would do) but it not the best to kind of contaminate the network with the traditional cell network
Because Signal has a low user base. Why Spam on Signal, if you can reach everyone with an SMS?