Registration without a phone number on Signal will use zero-knowledge proofs
Recorded: Sept. 14, 2026, 12:10 a.m.
| Original | Summarized |
Registration without a phone number - Page 10 - Feature Requests - Signal Community Signal Community Registration without a phone number Feature Requests rassilon1963 (Talya (she/her)) August 22, 2026, 6:49pm 200 you have legitimate concerns, but you’re very wrong about this. zero-knowledge proofs are not only the technology behind donation badges and backup payments, but also behind groups. they can’t tie you to a specific donation just like they can’t tie you to a specific group. kevino: Not to forget, signal could always be subpeaned to keep metadata information relating to certain accounts. the great thing about Signal is the client is designed to already not trust the server. in fact you can show that Signal is perfectly safe without even looking at server code. Avitus (Encrypt your life) August 26, 2026, 9:29pm 201 github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android Add signal login screen scaffolding. committed 04:14PM - 25 Aug 26 UTC greyson-signal +998 alex-signal (Alex Hart) August 26, 2026, 11:45pm 202 ZKP is also used for verifying things like username character set and length without actually revealing contents which is super cool and comprises of math waaaayyyyy above my head. chiwaijm (Jeffrey) August 27, 2026, 12:34am 203 Android Beta feedback for the upcoming Android 8.25 release github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android Allow setting username in registration module. committed 02:57PM - 25 Aug 26 UTC greyson-signal +1073 Aku-Stable August 27, 2026, 2:20am 204 rassilon1963: zero-knowledge proofs alex-signal: ZKP I was wondering what ZKP was desert_nip August 27, 2026, 12:35pm 205 github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android Add new signal login strings. committed 07:40PM - 26 Aug 26 UTC mtang-signal +1632 Also adjacent. The “save as pdf” is quite interesting. :) chiwaijm (Jeffrey) September 2, 2026, 8:56pm 206 Android Beta feedback for the upcoming Android 8.26 release github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android Add basic ability to register numberless account. committed 07:11PM - 02 Sep 26 UTC greyson-signal +871 github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android Hide some settings for numberless accounts. committed 07:11PM - 02 Sep 26 UTC greyson-signal +87 github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android Use new zkgroup credential for numberless accounts. committed 07:11PM - 02 Sep 26 UTC greyson-signal +16 github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android Don't show PIN reminder for numberless accounts. committed 07:11PM - 02 Sep 26 UTC greyson-signal +4 github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android Hide phone number discoverablity setting for numberless accounts. committed 07:11PM - 02 Sep 26 UTC greyson-signal +13 github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android Add numberless country code for locale remote configs. committed 07:11PM - 02 Sep 26 UTC greyson-signal +55 github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android Add basic ability to login to an existing numberless account. committed 07:11PM - 02 Sep 26 UTC greyson-signal +2395 github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android Add password manager support to numberless login. committed 07:11PM - 02 Sep 26 UTC greyson-signal +191 signalOne September 3, 2026, 8:06am 207 For those who are already registered with their phone number and would like to “unlink” it without re-registering for the service… is that possible? zetabeta September 3, 2026, 11:36am 208 if this feature happens, signal org should clarify some technical details regarding privacy. signalOne: For those who are already registered with their phone number and would like to “unlink” it without re-registering for the service… is that possible? desert_nip September 3, 2026, 12:48pm 209 I don’t think anything points to this yet. zetabeta: although unlinking phone number could be free of charge. That seems unlikely, because spammers could just get one number, register with that, unlink, repeat, to get infinitely many accounts for free. Unless they add a cooldown or something… zetabeta September 3, 2026, 1:14pm 210 cooldown is reasonably in this case. but even with one month cooldown, it may not be enough to prevent spammers and scammers. it cannot be long either. desert_nip: I don’t think anything points to this yet. zetabeta: although unlinking phone number could be free of charge. That seems unlikely, because spammers could just get one number, register with that, unlink, repeat, to get infinitely many accounts for free. Unless they add a cooldown or something… Avitus (Encrypt your life) September 10, 2026, 12:33am 211 github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android Add ability to pay for a signal login. committed 08:37PM - 09 Sep 26 UTC greyson-signal +2439 chiwaijm (Jeffrey) September 10, 2026, 1:15am 212 Android Beta feedback for the upcoming Android 8.27 release github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android Fix setting name rendering when there's no phone number. committed 08:37PM - 09 Sep 26 UTC greyson-signal +36 github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android Update some numberless assets. committed 08:37PM - 09 Sep 26 UTC greyson-signal +828 github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android Add confirm dialog when skipping username during numberless reg. committed 08:37PM - 09 Sep 26 UTC greyson-signal +105 github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android Assume phoneNumberDiscoverability=false for numberless accounts. committed 08:37PM - 09 Sep 26 UTC greyson-signal +3 github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android Allow full CDS refreshes for numberless accounts. committed 08:37PM - 09 Sep 26 UTC greyson-signal +1 github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android Improve backup onboarding for numberless accounts. committed 08:37PM - 09 Sep 26 UTC greyson-signal +959 github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android Add end to end tests for numberless registration flows. committed 08:44PM - 09 Sep 26 UTC greyson-signal +619 github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android Consider numberless unsolvable reglock to be invalid. committed 08:44PM - 09 Sep 26 UTC greyson-signal +11 github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android Fix crash during multi-device contact sync for numberless accounts. committed 08:44PM - 09 Sep 26 UTC greyson-signal +3 github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android Fix e164 NPE for numberless accounts during restore. committed 08:44PM - 09 Sep 26 UTC greyson-signal +10 Authentication and account recovery via email ← previous page Home Categories Guidelines Terms of Service Privacy Policy Powered by Discourse, best viewed with JavaScript enabled |
The discussion centers around feature requests and technical considerations within the Signal Community, primarily focusing on the implications of registration without a phone number and the underlying technology of zero-knowledge proofs. A key theoretical point introduced is the role of zero-knowledge proofs, which are noted to be the foundation not only for features like donation badges and backup payments but also for group functionalities. Users suggest that zero-knowledge proofs prevent tying a user to specific donations or groups, providing a layer of privacy. The technical aspects surrounding Signal's security are also touched upon, with comments acknowledging the design philosophy that the client is intended to not trust the server, implying that security can be demonstrated without examining the server code. Furthermore, zero-knowledge proofs are cited as a mechanism for verifying data, such as username character set and length, without revealing the actual contents, highlighting a complex mathematical underpinning of the system. A major focus of the feedback involves the implementation and management of numberless accounts. Several feature requests were submitted to enhance the experience and security for these accounts. These requests included adding scaffolding for login screens, allowing users to set usernames during registration, and implementing various settings related to phone number discoverability for numberless accounts. Technical updates related to Android development show ongoing work on these features, including adding new login strings, handling country codes for remote configurations, and considerations for backup onboarding processes. A particularly complex and contentious topic was the possibility of unlinking a phone number from an existing registration without requiring a complete re-registration. This question raised significant privacy concerns regarding data linkage. Discussions suggested that such an unlinking feature might be technically difficult, and concerns were raised by users about the potential for spammers to exploit this mechanism by registering, unlinking, and repeating the process to generate numerous accounts for free, though the likelihood of such abuse was questioned regarding the need for cooldown periods. The discussion ultimately pointed out that unlinking might not be the optimal solution, suggesting that creating new accounts without a number might be a preferable alternative. To address security and account management for numberless accounts, there were several specific technical considerations raised, such as assuming phone number discoverability is false for these accounts, allowing full credential service refreshes, and fixing crashes related to contact synchronization across multiple devices. Additionally, considerations were made regarding the validity of unsolvable registration locks and ensuring proper error handling during account restoration. One user noted skepticism regarding the feasibility of free unlinking due to potential abuse vectors, emphasizing that safeguards like cooldown periods might be necessary but insufficient against malicious activity. |