this post was submitted on 20 Aug 2023
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Privacy

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Many in the crypto and privacy community mistakenly trust Telegram because it's "end to end encrypted", but there are huge issues including not hiding the metadata, censorship, centralization, and phone numbers.
Send this video to your friend that asks why you won't join: https://video.simplifiedprivacy.com/why-telegram-sucks/

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[–] library_napper@monyet.cc -4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I think you missed the most important part: all accounts are tied to a phone number

[–] Dark_Arc@social.packetloss.gg 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Except that's not even true... https://www.livemint.com/technology/apps/telegram-brings-new-update-no-phone-number-needed-for-sign-up-more-features-11670403019183.html

And for most people, it doesn't matter. It really doesn't. I'm not even going to argue about that. I personally couldn't care less about instant messaging with anonymity; anonymity and private are completely separate concerns.

[–] library_napper@monyet.cc 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I dont know what happened, but unfortunately that article is misinformation.

I was excited to sign up for telegram without a phone number, but the very first thing it asks you when you open the app is to enter your phone number. It won't let you proceed without it.

[–] Dark_Arc@social.packetloss.gg 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

It's not misinformation, but it's also not free. You have to "get a fake number" of sorts from the Fragment blockchain.

I don't know much about those specifics because I live in the US, and fragment doesn't work here (due to conflicting views with the FEC). In theory, a VPN might let you do what you want even if you are in the US.

https://fragment.com/numbers

[–] roanescence@mstdn.social 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] library_napper@monyet.cc 2 points 1 year ago

That article was written in Dec 2022. either something was lost in translation or Telegram ditched the idea.

As stated before, you cannot use telegram without a phone number, which is a threat to security, anonymity, and privacy.