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Phone numbers are not proper verification

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Re: Phone numbers are not proper verification

#111

Post by jedimastert »

al2o3cr wrote: post #105

"A phone number is nothing you can just keep. Also i OWN my emails domains." I don't get the distinction the author is trying to make: if you stop paying the renewal fees for them you'll find you "own" those domains exactly as much as you "own" a phone number.

Having a phone number and a domain actually have way more similarities than I think this guy wants to say. You don't own your domain, your registrar does and you are leasing it. Sure, generally you go year to year instead of month to month, but in the end you don't own your domain either. And it's way easier for someone to target you.

Re: Phone numbers are not proper verification

#112

Post by Zak »

Coinbase blocked my account from buying and refused to explain themselves after I changed the phone number associated with Authy.

If true (they refused to explain themselves, after all), that's an incredibly backwards approach for a company based on the (possible) future of money to take.

Re: Phone numbers are not proper verification

#113

Post by diegoprzl »

FreeOTP or Google Authenticator are a better alternative to SMS. I have three bank accounts and, sadly, none offer that as a option.

If you need SMS verification of some service you can buy a Russian or Ukranian number for a few bucks. I do that when I want a throwaway WhatsApp.

Re: Phone numbers are not proper verification

#114

Post by herbst »

tyingq wrote: post #106
herbst wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Control means i own it. You never own telephone numbers, maybe you do in some countries i dont know, but they usual contract is that you rent them and they can be taken away from you anytime. Sure they usually dont, but building a security system on something like that is obviously suboptimal.

Not sure I understand the difference between renting a telephone number and renting a domain, or email address, or even a home address. All can be taken away for various reasons, failure to pay rent/renewal/mortgage, legal confiscations, etc.

According to my telephone contract it can be taken at any time and i am not entitled to my telephone number. This is something you dont find with domains.

Re: Phone numbers are not proper verification

#115

Post by herbst »

Zak wrote: post #112

Coinbase blocked my account from buying and refused to explain themselves after I changed the phone number associated with Authy. If true (they refused to explain themselves, after all), that's an incredibly backwards approach for a company based on the (possible) future of money to take.

Not sure where i got that from, i dont have that written. Coinbase was super nice but they had a issue with the API callback from Authy which did not reenable my account again.

Coinbase however blocks accounts for gambling, but they usually mention the why.

Re: Phone numbers are not proper verification

#116

Post by herbst »

WhitneyLand wrote: post #102

Why not just keep your original phone number on the lowest cost possible plan? It's also good for emergencies.

I did kind of. I hated my carrier really bad (they are really bad, and i expressed my hate) so i went with a prepaid plan. Issue is after i lost the sim there is no way for me to get the same number again.

They wanted $500 from me to "downgrade" my account from the $80 i paid then to about $40 i would have paid after that. I said fuck you.

Re: Phone numbers are not proper verification

#117

Post by albybisy »

diegoprzl wrote: post #113

FreeOTP or Google Authenticator are a better alternative to SMS. I have three bank accounts and, sadly, none offer that as a option. If you need SMS verification of some service you can buy a Russian or Ukranian number for a few bucks. I do that when I want a throwaway WhatsApp.

How and where do you buy Russian/Ukrainian phone numbers?

Re: Phone numbers are not proper verification

#118

Post by herbst »

hlandau wrote: post #108

(This comment ended up turning into a blog post in itself, so I moved it: https://www.devever.net/~hl/e164 )

I was surprised about the long comment and was going to suggest to make it a blog post. Well :)

We definitly are on to somethere there, now lets hope some people pick it up and find better solutions.

You went more technical and provides more direct reasons, i learned a few things from your article. So kudos for that!

I'll make a long back to your post as well, seems like a good followup for interested people, and as said a little more detailed about the technical implications

Re: Phone numbers are not proper verification

#119

Post by tyingq »

herbst wrote: post #114
tyingq wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure I understand the difference between renting a telephone number and renting a domain, or email address, or even a home address. All can be taken away for various reasons, failure to pay rent/renewal/mortgage, legal confiscations, etc.

According to my telephone contract it can be taken at any time and i am not entitled to my telephone number. This is something you dont find with domains.

They can take your domain away, for example, if you fail to respond to an inquiry regarding invalid contact info. Anyone can initiate one of those inquiries. And, of course, there's the various domain name dispute policies at ICANN.

Re: Phone numbers are not proper verification

#120

Post by herbst »

caseysoftware wrote: post #92

FTA: > A phone number is nothing you can just keep. Also i OWN my emails domains. Therefore they are under MY control. No, no, no. Just like phone numbers, your domain can be yanked out from under you. In many cases, their are procedures and appeals that can be worked out but realistically, if someone hijacks your DNS, it's over.

To take my domain legally from me there is a complicated procedure involved, its nothing that can just happen from today to tomorrow because a third party wanted it. Which is in fact the case with phone numbers. At least the one i actually read the contract for.

Controlling my DNS is pretty much the same scenario as hacking my phone. Both can happen, both dont have to happen.

Edit:// I checked, taking my Domain from me if data is correct and i pay is close to impossible, costly and takes forever. This is really far from beeing the same as with a phone number

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