Privacy

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Pros and cons for an extra phone number (dual Sim) (lemmy.ml)

submitted 3 months ago by FriedRice@lemmy.ml to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

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Every time I buy something online, or make an account for an example month bus ticket, they "need" my phone number. I always use alias emails, but I don't have an alias phone number. I know, there are some online phone nr service, but they mostly dosnt work, outside of the US. So I was thinking about getting me a second nr, just for thoese cases were I have to log in. I would by the nr, in cash, and there is nothing data they have to make the nr. But what are your thoughts? What do you see as pros and cons for getting a second nr.? Does it even make sense, when the simcard is in the same phone?

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[–] JubilantJaguar@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

This is a good question. Phone numbers are increasingly used as de-facto ID numbers, everywhere in the world. That's because, unlike email, they cost money, and in most jurisdictions you can't even get one anymore without presenting real ID. So: if you have a second phone number, you can effectively have a second persona for any site or app that requires phone-number ID. Seriously, at this rate, it's going to be all of them.

IMO the best use-case for this is to quarantine your contact list. That is, keep a separate number for social networks and messaging. The number you give to your in-person contacts will be instantly shared with all their cloud services, whether you like it or not. This is what allows Big Tech to triangulate and discover exactly who you know and therefore who you are. If the cloud services cannot trace a number back to any phone ID in their own books, then they can't do much with it and you will remain at least something of a mystery to them.

[–] FriedRice@lemmy.ml 2 points 3 months ago

Thank you. Well its gonna be a lot of work, to get all the contacts my new number, but yir just to get a little bit of privacy I think its worth it.