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Under Meredith Whittaker, Signal Is Out to Prove Surveillance Capitalism Wrong (www.wired.com)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[–] 2 points 2 years ago (1 child)

Google is a very bad choice because it requires a phone number on its own. Also heard that there may be additional KYC.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Are you suggesting you need a phone number to get a phone number from Google Fi?

    And yeah, it'll definitely to KYC, because that's a federal regulation. My point is that you don't need the number long-term, so the number will only be associated with you for like a week while the trial period lasts. So sign up for Google Fi trial, create a Signal account, then cancel the trial. That sounds pretty reasonable to me.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 child)

    Yea. Don't you need a Google account first to use such a service? Those do need phone numbers to register.

    And also KYC is unacceptable in this case, imo. If the number is needed only for a short time, there are similar, non-KYC options like what you would find on kycnot.me.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Yeah, I think you'll create a Google account as part of the Google Fi account creation process.

    If that really bothers you, use a different MVNO. Some offer free trials, but even if not, it's not too bad to buy a month of service. My provider is Tello, and the minimum service that'll give you SMS is $5/month. If you're clever, you can probably also find a VOIP provider that does SMS for really cheap.

    My point isn't that Google Fi specifically is what you should use, just that it's an example of a service that offers a free trial, so you can sign up for Signal for free.

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