phone number

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phone number is a series of digits (typically 10-11) for reaching a classic phone, that is sometimes used for TFA (via SMS and/or audio call) despite being at high risk of being compromised.

Why not

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Phone numbers are easily stolen, spoofed, and surveilled. See #Criticism section for details.

How to

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Use a virtual phone number

Google Voice
Virtual phone number provider: https://www.mightycall.com/virtual-phone-number/

Use disposable phone numbers

2023-09-07 Terence Eden: Using disposable phone numbers for better security

Criticism

Easily stolen

2018-06-05 BoingBoing: It's really easy to steal your cellphone number, and that's a gateway to stealing everything else

CallerID easily spoofed

a way to get audio interrupt spammed with faked local number callerID, thread: https://twitter.com/davidwalshblog/status/1202607635276664832
- "I absolutely *loathe* how you can't even answer the phone anymore. Always a bot. Always. I hate it." @davidwalshblog December 5, 2019
Caller ID spoofing used by fraudsters to trick you and your bank, man-in-the-middle (MitM) etc.: https://krebsonsecurity.com/2020/04/would-you-have-fallen-for-this-phone-scam/
- ""

Enables persistent surveillance

Phone numbers used for persistent surveillance over time: 2025-10-14 The Surveillance Empire That Tracked World Leaders, a Vatican Enemy, and Maybe You / Inside the hidden world of First Wap, whose untraceable tech has targeted politicians, journalists, celebrities, and activists around the globe. Thus avoid use for persistent identity or 2FA that raises barrier to recycling it.

Sold to marketers

2019-10-10 Fast Company: Stop giving companies your phone number. Do this instead / Facebook and Twitter admit that marketers accessed the phone numbers people gave them for security verification.
Facebook told me that they will only delete your phone number from their records if you delete your entire account.

Increases vulnerability to scams

why NOT to publish your phone number on your website (or anywhere on the web, or even add it to a social media profile):
2021-09-27 SF Chronicle: 'He held me hostage with no gun but with his words': The phone scam gaslighting therapists
The victims … many of whom list their work cell phone numbers on a website

Heavily spammed

Billions & billions of spam/phishing calls & txts per year: 2021-10-18 Spam Calls Flood San Francisco, CA in 2021
In the first half of the year, scammers sent 47.5 billion spam texts, a number that's projected to reach 86 billion by year's end

Unreliable for identifying users

https://twitter.com/heyakwan/status/1465405214379413513
- "The assumption that people will have consistent access to the same mobile number simply isn’t true for a lot of people. Phones cost money. So do phone plans. Phones break or get stolen. We all know this. Yet people who don’t have phones still need access to their email accounts." @heyakwan November 29, 2021