Welcome again to Your Password Sucks, the Daily Dot newsletter that answers all your internet security-related questions.
Today, we’re going to tell you how to make using Signal, the gold standard for end-to-end encrypted messaging, even more private.
Prior to starting this week’s edition of the column, our prestigious newsletter editor Andrew Wyrich brought up Signal usernames, and it dawned on me: We haven’t discussed the username feature with our readers since it was introduced last year.
Of course, we’ve covered Signal before and have given you step-by-step instructions on how to set it up on your phone.
But one of the complaints many Signal users have had over the years is that it requires giving out your phone number to those you wish to speak to.
Sure, giving out your number to friends or family isn’t a big deal if you want secure communications with those close to you. But what if you want to speak over Signal to someone you’d rather not have your number?
Before, you’d have to get a separate phone number and device to set up a second Signal account. But now, you can simply set up a username.
Yes, you still need to have a phone number to register Signal to begin with, like always. But once you switch on your username, your contacts will no longer see the phone number linked to your Signal account. Now, you can simply give out your username to any new contacts you wish to communicate with.
So how do you do it? Luckily, it’s quite simple.
How do I set up a username on Signal?
- First, in your Signal app, click your profile picture in the upper-left-hand corner. This will take you to the Settings page.
- From there, click your profile picture again or your name and phone number at the top of the screen.
- Next, you should see a selection for Username at the bottom of the screen. Click it and choose your username. You’ll be asked to add a username and a set of numbers after. For example, the Signal account I publicly give out as a journalist is mikaelthalen.12 (feel free to send your leaks, tips, questions, or story ideas 😉).
And there you have it! Next time someone asks how to speak to you on Signal, all you have to do is give them your username.
That’s not all, though. You can also tweak some settings so that people can’t look you up by your phone number anymore on Signal.
To do so, go back to Settings, scroll down to Privacy, and click Phone number at the top of your screen. There you can switch Who can see my number to Nobody and Who can find me by number to Nobody.
Your Signal account is much more private now.
And as always, don’t forget to send us your security and privacy-related tech questions to be answered in the next column!
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The post Still giving out your phone number for Signal? Switch to a username instead appeared first on The Daily Dot.
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