Signal is private in that other people can’t intercept your messages, including signal. The signal app is open-source so you can be relatively certain it’s not tracking your decrypted messages, unlike closed-source apps like WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger or any other private social media.
Signal is not anonymous from an account standpoint, because you need a phone number to sign up, even if you can choose not to display it in your account.
But we are not obliged to share it with our correspondents.
Unregistered users can’t chat, so it needs a number, as OP said.
Yeah I’d rather not share my identity though. Seems like an odd requirement for a “private” messenger
Private ≠ anonymous.
Signal is not anonymous.
Signal is neither of those
Signal is private in that other people can’t intercept your messages, including signal. The signal app is open-source so you can be relatively certain it’s not tracking your decrypted messages, unlike closed-source apps like WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger or any other private social media.
Signal is not anonymous from an account standpoint, because you need a phone number to sign up, even if you can choose not to display it in your account.
This does nothing to fix the problem.