This is my old account that I just logged in today. Just joined a server and Discord asked for email verification. Okay, that’s not hard, thankfully Discord doesn’t restrict email to only big providers. But then suddenly DIscord asked to verify by phone number, because “something is out of ordinary”. What’s out of ordinary from that??? Joining a server > Discord asks to verify > I verify.

I was losing my mind seeing people suggesting moving to Discord when Rexxit happened. Like WTF, it’s even worse than Reddit. Non-indexable content, worse privacy, needing account just to access the said content, etc.

I really hate how services nowadays require your phone number just to use their service. Unfortunately most people just don’t care of privacy, thanks to “I have nothing to hide” mindset.

  • doritospineapple@burggit.moe
    8·
    1 year ago

    Actually a big problem. Companies think it simply means adding another layer where user proves they’re human (not bots) and also can’t be ‘faked easily’.

    I hate it. It has fundamental issues like:

    • geographical privacy breach
    • some countries have strict ID req for phone numbers
    • sms can be intercepted by social engineering alone
    • there are apps and sites providing fake numbers, so…

    Being generous, it’s an extra layer of annoyance to deter spammers. Big places like Discord won’t accept numbers from simple google searches. In my case, I actually paid an sms verification website so discord could “knew I was on $CheapCountry and bought a sim card”, lol.

    And seriously, fuck discord and fuck everyone thinking chats can replace forums. It fucking doesn’t, goddamn people.

    • SmolSlime@burggit.moeOP
      3·
      1 year ago

      Yeah phone number kinda sucks here ever since it requires your govt. ID just to register. Back then I could just buy any random number and activate it.

      I actually paid an sms verification website

      What service did you use? I’m looking for similar service but I don’t trust recommendation from articles enough.

      • doritospineapple@burggit.moe
        1·
        1 year ago

        In my case it was smspva. A word of caution, the prices listed are cheap, but they require depositing 5 USD into your account first (I used bitcoin). Only after that you can spend it on phone numbers to receive sms messages into. I used whatever the cheapest european number there was to register discord and google accounts. Sometimes it was straightforward, other times it took 2-3 times cycling through to find the right number, in bad days it wouldn’t work at all (Google is the worst personally speaking). The website didn’t charge me for using a failed number, so there’s that.