this post was submitted on 20 Feb 2024
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I see this as both a win and a problem:
As soon as you take away a hard link to a real-life identifier, the sketchy people come out of the woodwork and spread images of child exploitation.
Signal has not had this problem like some platforms (e.g. Kik), and I suspect two reasons:
Up until now signal has been an excellent secure replacement for text messaging between parties that know each other. I hope they don’t go the “chat groups” route, though I doubt they will. But I suspect this change will make it a preferred way for abusers to exchange images and videos nearly anonymously.
The implication is that a phone number is still required, you just no longer have to share that with the people you communicate with.
Their blog post says explicitly that phone number is still required for sign-up and that usernames are purely meant as an avenue to message new people without sharing your phone number. Your username isn't even visible to anyone but you and you can change it whenever you want.
That does help. While It adds an extra step to the reporting process (having the authorities identify the human behind the tag), it does at least nearly guarantee someone can figure out who is behind it.