I then checked with my carrier, and they do not support international texting.
#USE TWITTER WITHOUT PHONE NUMBER CODE#
Since I'm getting no response at all from 40404 (including tweets, STOP, HELP, START, etc) I thought I'd try their international long code (+44 7624 801423). I tried searching by phone number and this person seems to have disabled that. Maybe the account was deactivated?Īpparently you can search Twitter users by phone number. Please help.įollowup: I just tried tweeting myself from their phone so that I could find out who it was and ask them to remove the number from their account, but it seems the tweet never went through. (Yes, I understand this does not make sense with the previously mentioned not being able to add it to my Twitter account, but I'm desperate.) So I tried adding the number to my Google Voice account, but that did not work either. One reason I could think of that it may not be removing with the text to the short code is that the offending account actually has a Google Voice number listed as their mobile number which is forwarding to me. I have tried adding the number to my own Twitter account, but it is blocked because someone else has it on their account. It is a prepaid phone, the notifications are burning through all my minutes, it is keeping me awake and distracted and I need it to stop. Even if it’s lying, you’re giving your real number to just one site instead of every site that requires a phone number for 2FA.I got a new phone number, and I am receiving dozens of Twitter notifications an hour even throughout the night.įrom everything I've seen texting STOP to the Twitter short code, which to my understanding is 40404 (that's the number the notifications are coming from) should remove my number from the old user's account. Unlike Facebook, Google at least claims that it will honor user requests to delete their data. But you can delete the number in your settings after you’ve set up the service, though that means you won’t be able to have messages or calls forwarded to that number. One catch: Google requires you to provide a real phone number when you sign up for Google Voice. (A dedicated Gmail for spam is another good idea.) You can delete your real phone number after setting up Google Voice. (You can access it online or have messages forwarded to another phone.) Using them when you sign up for services is a great way to cut down on spam phone calls and also ensure that the company doesn’t have your real phone number forever.
#USE TWITTER WITHOUT PHONE NUMBER FREE#
Related: These 11 Facebook privacy tweaks put you back in controlįor years, Google has allowed people to get free virtual phone numbers that can receive calls and texts just like a real number. (And much as I’ve been tempted to, I’ve been unable to take that drastic step.) Twitter requires a phone number for 2FA, even if you use an app, although it says that may be changing. Facebook told me that they will only delete your phone number from their records if you delete your entire account. In many ways, it may be too late to prevent these big social networks from using your phone number how they see fit. “But Facebook was irresponsible, and now we can’t have nice things.” “For a lot of people, is a totally reasonable protection that you should feel comfortable using,” says Gennie Gebhart, a researcher on consumer privacy and security at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Twitter’s admission is a nasty case of déjà vu, since Facebook admitted to misusing phone numbers for ad targeting about a year ago. That’s especially scary because our phone numbers have become powerful tools to identify and track us, not just for companies but for anyone who wants to look up our personal information stored in a myriad of public records such as court filings, voter registration, real estate transactions, and marriage records.