How to Use a Signal Without Revealing Your Personal Phone Number
Signal has made encryption available to the masses, but secure messaging also leaves one bit of personal information unsecured: your personal phone number.
The app requires a work phone number to register your account and this can leave you vulnerable to harassment and even hackers. Luckily, there is a way to use Signal without revealing any personal information at all, although it can take a decent amount of work depending on whether you’re using Android or iOS.
What you need to set up a new Signal account
Intercept has a full breakdown of how to create an account without revealing your personal phone number, but the key feature is that Signal only requires access to the phone network the first time you sign up. After that, everything is done over the Internet.
So all you need is access to your work phone number. This could be a landline phone, a prepaid SIM card, or another online service like Google Voice or Skype. Just make sure you are in control of the number you are using.
If you have an Android phone, you’re in luck. You can create a new account on your device by going to your phone settings and selecting “Add user or profile”. You can then switch between accounts by dragging the Android notifications tab and selecting the user icon.
If you’re already using Signal on your iPhone, setting up a second account will be a little more difficult as Apple doesn’t support multiple profiles. It is best to use a separate device that does not require a cellular connection to function. You can also use Signal Desktop instead, but you still need to temporarily remove Signal from your iPhone or do some serious coding to get it set up.
How to create a new Signal account
This is the easy part.
When you set up a new account, Signal will send an SMS to the phone number you provide to verify it. If that doesn’t work (for example, if you are using an old-fashioned landline phone that cannot receive text messages), it will wait two minutes before calling the number and giving you the verification code. Enter this into the app and you’re done.