Identity Verification: It helps confirm you’re a real person and prevents the creation of a large number of fake accounts or bots.
Spam Prevention: It raises the barrier for spammers and malicious actors, as each account needs a unique, verifiable number.
Contact Discovery: It allows people who have your phone number in their contacts to find you on Telegram (if your privacy settings permit).
Privacy Settings for Your Phone Number:
While Telegram requires your number for registration, it offers strong privacy controls over who can see it:
Go to Settings > Privacy and Security > Phone Number.
You can choose who can see your phone number:
My Contacts: Only people in your phone’s contact list (who also use Telegram) can see your number.
Nobody: No one can see your phone number directly on your profile.
Even if you set “Nobody” for who can see your number, there’s a separate setting for “Who can find me by my number.” You can typically choose “Everybody” or “My Contacts” here. To telegram number database maximize privacy, if you set “Who can see my phone number” to “Nobody,” it’s often recommended to also limit “Who can find me by my number” to “My Contacts” and ensure Telegram does not have access to sync your phone’s contacts.
Using Telegram Without Revealing Your Personal Number (Workarounds):
If you’re concerned about using engage on social media platforms your personal phone number, there are workarounds for account creation:
Virtual Phone Numbers (VoIP Numbers): Services like Google Voice (primarily US/Canada), TextNow, Hushed, or other belgium numbers VoIP providers offer virtual numbers that can receive SMS verification codes. You can use these to register.