It looks like Signal is laying the groundwork for server support for accounts without a phone number attached. Recent commits to the public Signal-Server repository on GitHub rework registration security, account locking, and country statistics so that all of it keeps working when an account has no number on file.
AboutSignal, a niche site that tracks the messenger, spotted the changes and read them as preparation for an optional way to sign up without a number.
The commits reach into plumbing that assumes a number exists. One is titled "Don't allow or set registration lock on accounts with no phone number." A registration lock is the PIN Signal checks when a phone number is registered again, and the commit makes the server refuse to set one on an account that has no number.
The refusal remains internal with an error reading "Cannot set registration lock on account with no phone number;" a client that tries sees only a generic bad-request response. Country and region statistics record "n/a" for accounts "that may not have phone numbers" where the server once parsed a number. Locking accounts during account changes now works when there is no phone number to lock on. "Do not allow accounts without phone numbers to perform PNI key operations" shuts those accounts out of the cryptographic operations tied to a phone number.
The phone number requirement has been the standing privacy objection to Signal for years. A number leads back to a person, through the SIM it's attached to, and whoever paid for it, and handing one over to join a private messenger has always been an odd fit. Signal hides numbers from strangers by default and lets you block anyone from looking you up by number. Usernames, introduced in February 2024, mean the people you message can reach you without ever learning it. The username announcement still told users that "you will still need a phone number to sign up for Signal."
