Vie Hachés: Share a Signal username (not your number) in public comments—safely!

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Bonjour privacy! If you want to swap contact info in blog or forum comments without exposing your real phone or email, Signal’s usernames + phone-number privacy are perfect. Below is a fast setup plus copy-paste snippets you can use anywhere.

The 5-minute setup

1) Create your Signal username

  • Open Signal → Settings → Profile → Username.

  • Choose a name; Signal requires at least two digits at the end (e.g., aix-baguette.47). You can change or delete it any time. (Signal Messenger)

2) Hide your phone number

  • Go to Settings → Privacy → Phone Number.

    • Who can see my number? → Nobody

    • Who can find me by number? → Nobody
      Now only people who know your exact username or link can reach you. (Signal Support)

3) Generate something you can post publicly

Open Settings → your Profile → QR Code or Link and pick:

  • Unique URL (best for comments; doesn’t include your username text)

  • QR code (great for posters/meetups)
    You can reset the URL/QR anytime without changing your username—handy if your link gets too popular. (Signal Support)

Why this works: usernames let people contact you without seeing your phone number; Signal also added controls to stop number-based lookups. (Signal Messenger)

Exactly what to paste in a comment

Option A — Share the revocable URL (recommended)

Message me on Signal: (paste your Signal link here)

Because the URL is opaque (it doesn’t reveal your username), you can rotate it later if needed. (Signal Support)

Option B — Share the username text

Signal username: aix-baguette.47

This is simple, but it’s not revocable—change your username if you ever want to “close the door.” (Signal Messenger)

Bonus: a tiny HTML button (for Blogger / forums that allow HTML)

<a href="PASTE-YOUR-SIGNAL-LINK" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"
   style="display:inline-block;padding:.5em .8em;border:1px solid #ddd;border-radius:8px;
          text-decoration:none;font:600 14px system-ui,Arial">
  💬 Message me on Signal
</a>

How others will add you

  • They open Signal, tap New chat, and type your username under Find by Username, or click your link, or scan your QR. (They’ll see your profile name/image, not your username.) (Signal Support)

Safety checklist (do these now)

  • ✅ Registration Lock PIN on (stops SIM-swap takeovers).

  • ✅ Number visibility and number discovery set to Nobody. (Signal Support)

  • ✅ Prefer link over raw username when posting in public—because you can reset the link any time. (Signal Support)

  • ⚠️ Some platforms have blocked signal.me links in the past; if your post fails, write “signal dot me slash…” or share the QR image instead. (Digital Trends)

Pro move for meetups

For a festival/class/weekend trip, make an event-specific username (ex: aix-walks.24) and change it afterwards. You can also invite people to a Signal group via link with admin approval toggled on. (Signal Messenger)

Why Signal (and not an email alias) for comments?

  • No inbox exposure, no email headers, no phone number.

  • End-to-end encrypted DMs with message requests and easy blocking.

  • You can revoke a public link later. (Email aliases are great too, but easier to spam-harvest.) (Signal Messenger)

Sources & deeper dives

  • Signal announcement: usernames + number privacy, with how-tos. (Signal Messenger)

  • Signal Support: phone-number privacy, usernames, sharing via URL/QR, revoking. (Signal Support)

  • Freedom of the Press Foundation: what identifiers Signal uses, options to share. (Freedom of the Press)

Mini phrasebook for posting in French (copy/paste)

  • A1: On papote sur Signal ? Mon lien : [collez votre lien]

  • A2: Je préfère garder mon numéro privé. Écrivez-moi sur Signal ici : [lien]

  • B1: Pour des raisons de confidentialité, je partage mon lien Signal (révocable) : [lien]

  • B2: Merci de me contacter via mon identifiant Signal ; je n’apparais pas par numéro.

  • Avancé: Par souci de confidentialité (pas de n°/mail publics), contactez-moi via mon lien Signal ci-dessous ; je fais tourner le lien régulièrement.

Your turn 👇

Have you tried usernames yet? Post your best privacy tips, a comment template that worked on your platform, or a “gotcha” we should warn newcomers about.