I could remeber when i started to visit Russian boards like lamp and tor site since back in 2013 the most recognisable mode of p2p chat was mostly Xmpp/Jabber it didn't have a particularly appealing UI but it was somewhat secure with OTR on. Come 2015, we started to see this tetonic shift to Telegram and some wierd ass P2P sites that mandated you to use phone number to register.
My grouse with that is that we can't completely rely on Telegram just being a Russian service with their servers domiciled at home and won't report to big governments upon request and also for the fact that it is not safe OPSEC wise to do something shady online and have it linked to a phone number except if it a burner registered with a dead person's profile. Begs to wonder how some eastern European hackers have had their profiles doxxed becasue something as simple as having their phone number linked to their online presence is enough to get them in trouble. And what if in crazy scenarios where big government want you that bad and their inform Law enforcement to subpoena telecommunications companies to retrieve sms code to get easy access to your profile and what you have been up to.
True anonymity can only be achieved when we separate our personalities from our villanims online by staying away from chat peer services that mandates you upon registering to sign up with a phone number.
My grouse with that is that we can't completely rely on Telegram just being a Russian service with their servers domiciled at home and won't report to big governments upon request and also for the fact that it is not safe OPSEC wise to do something shady online and have it linked to a phone number except if it a burner registered with a dead person's profile. Begs to wonder how some eastern European hackers have had their profiles doxxed becasue something as simple as having their phone number linked to their online presence is enough to get them in trouble. And what if in crazy scenarios where big government want you that bad and their inform Law enforcement to subpoena telecommunications companies to retrieve sms code to get easy access to your profile and what you have been up to.
True anonymity can only be achieved when we separate our personalities from our villanims online by staying away from chat peer services that mandates you upon registering to sign up with a phone number.