On December 7, the Telegram team announced the launch of a new phase of privacy on their centralized instant messaging service app, Telegram.
This update allows users to create accounts without sim cards, instead using blockchain-based anonymous numbers. With this new feature, users no longer have to provide their phone number when signing up.
The announcement says,
“Today starts a new era of privacy. You can have a Telegram account without a SIM card.”
Importantly, the messaging platform has added a new feature to its privacy policy which will allow for users to further protect their personal phone numbers from non-added users by hiding them. This is in addition to the security features already in place.
Since its launch in 2013, Telegram has been renowned for its security and privacy features.
Among these are self-destructive messages, enabling users to delete messages without leaving a trace, and auto-delete timers, which automatically remove chat histories after a certain amount of time.
Both of these features were first introduced by Nikolai and Pavel Durov.
As per the latest announcement, users must acquire “blockchain-enabled anonymous numbers” from Fragment, the decentralized auction platform created by Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram.
Fragment provides users with anonymous numbers and usernames that comply with Telegram’s privacy policy, which can be bought using the cryptocurrency TON (Telegram Open Network).