this post was submitted on 04 May 2026
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Privacy
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Cause spamming will get a lot worse once you can just register accounts.
This is real false dilemma that people often raise. There's so many tools that Signal can use to stop spam. Do you get spam email? Almost never - even on E2E email, because reputation blacklisting solved it. Signal already only lets accounts message other users in their local contacts list or added by username.
Examples off the top of my head: If a new account is registered it can have a 'gradual release of abilities' whereby it can only send 3 messages first day, 10 first week, etc. Same for adding users by username. Signal already has spam-account reporting capabilities that block accounts after too many reports. Simple. Solved. And the payoff is that everyone gets complete privacy of who they are during signup.
BTW I already get spam on Signal. Here's the latest from just 2 days ago, know nobody by this name and don't recognize her, standard pretty god-botherer bait profile, user photo looks like AI (light reflection left eye very different to right eye):
Require a $15 payment
Then you have the same privacy problem but with payment provider....
For non-phone-numbered accounts
Yep. So.. You sign up with a username, no phone number.. Then you use a payment provider to pay for that account... And.. Your payment info is therefore linked to that account at creation time.
Potential remedy could be using Bitcoin or something as an option, but then.. 99% of people dont have or use crypto, and would just use the default CC/paypal. Same issue.
The fuck do you think the phone number works
You claimed a payment system would solve spam. I explained why that gets right back to the privacy problem.
This has left you deeply confused, apparently. Bye.