Signal usernames are here!
Dr. Martin Shelton
February 22, 2024
It’s the Digital Security Training team at Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF), with security news that keeps you, your sources, and your devices safe. If someone has shared this newsletter with you, please subscribe here.
This week, security nerds are dancing in the streets because Signal, the encrypted messaging app, is finally rolling out usernames. Signal has previously required users to provide their phone number as an identifier, but with this most recent update, users may instead use a username. Through massive reengineering, Signal is now able to store additional data, including information about usernames, in a secure format. By default, phone numbers will be hidden from new contacts, and users can also optionally remove their phone number from Signal’s “new contact” search. Read their blog post here.
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Best,
Martin