From 6c8bb02ec40171f4929191895929ebfb3212b6a8b8426eda55626f23974b3464 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Nicholas Johnson Date: Wed, 20 Mar 2024 00:00:00 +0000 Subject: Make correction --- content/entry/re-phone-numbers-must-die.md | 2 ++ 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+) diff --git a/content/entry/re-phone-numbers-must-die.md b/content/entry/re-phone-numbers-must-die.md index 106a067..bea3ba2 100644 --- a/content/entry/re-phone-numbers-must-die.md +++ b/content/entry/re-phone-numbers-must-die.md @@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ Very early on in the article is the first criticism of E.164 numbers. Hugo doesn I know what Hugo is going through here. As someone who also doesn't want a phone number, I have struggled to avoid services which require one. My biggest obstacle so far has been banking. All the banks in Mexico require not only a phone number, but also a phone app, despite the fact that banks predate phones and phones have never been needed in the past to have a bank account. It took me some time to figure this out though. +Edit (20-03-2024): It isn't 100% fair to say that all banks in Mexico require a phone app, but it isn't far from the truth. BanCoppel is the only major bank I've found to be semi-usable without downloading a proprietary app. If there are other banks which don't require an app, they certainly don't advertise it. Even at BanCoppel, customers without the app have limited account functionality and interactions with bank employees are more difficult since they're so accustomed to app-using customers. + In the first bank I tried, I was able to successfully make an account. I asked if a phone was required before I made the account and was told no. They said I could use the web interface. As I would find out later, a proprietary phone app (which also required a phone number) was needed to log into the web interface. I tried the app on someone else's phone and found out it uses a dizzying array of seemingly redundant token-based authentication mechanisms which make it seem like whoever designed it didn't understand the concept of a threat model. After looking into the app further, I discovered it included face-scanning, location tracking, and AI-based behavior tracking. Needless to say, I closed that account. After that, I walked into another bank branch where there was a sign saying that one had to make an appointment over WhatsApp before talking to someone. I just walked out. -- cgit v1.2.3