What is the proton equivalent of this service if one exists?

  • pipes@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    23
    ·
    8 months ago

    Other than avoiding those services as much as possible, I use a second phone number for “machine-communication”= whenever I’m not giving my phone# to a person.

    I’m in the EU, I found a provider in my country that offered a prepaid sim card (pay-per-use) with no expiry date, but never use the credit on it because it’s free to receive sms. I turn it on in my dual sim phone whenever I need it.

    • 0x0@programming.dev
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      8 months ago

      Most plans tend to require use once every six months (i.e. send an sms or something), did you read the fine print?

      I’d assume in a dual-SIM the phone’s IMEI is the same?

      • kuneho@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        5
        ·
        8 months ago

        I’d assume in a dual-SIM the phone’s IMEI is the same?

        Dual-sim phones usually have one IMEI per slot, so multiple IMEIs in total.

      • pipes@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        8 months ago

        Did not see any requirement of the sort in the fine print, but even if there were, it’s fine as long as you pick the right provider. If I had to make the occasional call it’d be still worth it. There are also providers that will keep a sim active indefinitely as long as you “purchase” one month (as little as 5€) every 1/2 years (most importantly, they do not charge you into negative credit). So basically free to operate as well.

        Honestly I do it mostly to limit spam, if I did it only for privacy reasons I’d have more than two numbers but I fear one might start getting noticed by the autorities at that point :/ sms is inherently unsafe and not private.

        Every sim slot has its IMEI