I wish ring.to was still a going concern for new users. They (Bandwidth.com) closed it to new users but existing users can stay on--ostensibly for money someday in the future--and I'm glad we've not been booted. I have six numbers parked there and only rarely give out my <i>real</i> mobile number.<p>I can exchange SMS (and MMS!) with these numbers, make and receive phone calls, and short codes even work. To me, having alternate numbers to give to companies for "security" or "identity verification" is like having a password manager: it means not having all of my eggs in one basket. (Plus, as a kind-of-bonus, ring.to has no live customer support so--as long as nothing goes wrong and I need to talk to them--there's nowhere to socially engineer to port a number away.)
Gotta love the optimist that thinks email addresses are less likely to be associated with their data profile.<p>Nice to see a little progress on the language front: <i>The total losses in the United States from stolen identities used in crimes like credit card and loan fraud</i><p>Be sure to read the applicable 8000 word privacy policy before thinking Sideline is giving you any privacy. They share the number pair with the cell phone operator in order to make the service work, so be sure to read their privacy policy too. Oh, and make sure to understand them well and keep up with any changes.
only if you are dumb (or blind by the san-francisco alternate reality) enough.<p>sadly, the alternative is to have to, over and over again, skip the page your service providers ask for your phone after every login. Even <i>after</i> you have something actually secure like OTP generation keys exchanged.
While it may read as an advertisement, I see that as a warning.<p>Keep separate phone numbers to maintain separate profiles (ex: one for healthcare, one for banks, one for social medias). Don't give your permanent phone number. Don't share the number between class of services.<p>And above all, don't give other people number!!<p>Fun thing: the other day, I was asked my phone number at my family doctor. I gave a cellphone number. Then they asked for an "emergy contact" phone number.<p>My answer: 911. They insisted. So I explained that in case of emergency, I want them to call 911. Seriously, don't try to call anyone else.<p>Their answer: but what if we really need to reach you?<p>My answer: I already gave you my cellphone number. Call me on my cellphone if you really need to reach me.