[newscracker]

I read through this. I don't think Proton Mail is a good replacement for Signal (it's worse because Proton does log and share IP addresses of users with a court order).

One thing I dislike about Signal on its privacy posture is that the moment you register, anyone who already has Signal and has your phone number in their contacts list will get a message saying you're on Signal. This is a good way for others with bad intentions to know about your presence on the platform. The options to hide your phone number are available only after registering on Signal (after this broadcast has already happened) and when the user figures out that this is possible somewhere deep in the settings.

On registration Signal could ask whether to inform all random people who happen to have your number. But since unused/discarded phone numbers are recycled by carriers to other customers within a matter of weeks or months or years (depending on where you are), your presence on Signal may be sent to someone you've never ever known or has known you. Signal ought to remove this broadcast on registration. Telegram (and I guess WhatsApp) also suffer from the same issue.

[udev4096]

That's false. You can set your phone number discovery to None and even your contacts cannot find you unless you explicitly message them or share your username

[Fiveplus]

So...who's right? This comment or the parent comment? I don't use signal and these are contradictory to me. Just wanna know what's the actual policy.

[baxuz]

Why do you even need a phone number in the first place?

[shevy-java]

NSA will know.