Snapchat Security Fiasco Proves You Need a Disappearing Phone Number

Did you see the news last week? As reported by the Washington Post:

“Snapchat users are waking up to troubling news: Thanks to a gap in the service's security, the phone numbers and usernames for as many as 4.6 million accounts have been downloaded by a Web site.”
Companies like Snapchat put in safeguards to protect privacy. But you should not rely on cloud-based companies to implement every protection for you. You should take steps yourself to protect your privacy on the Internet, and to protect your phone number. Here is how you do it.

Many of us have throwaway email accounts that we make disappear when we get spammed too much. The same concept applies to phone numbers. We need our primary phone number, which we never post on the Internet, and we need a few extra phone numbers that ring as a separate line to our mobile phone. These phone numbers should be virtual numbers that can disappear at a moment’s notice.
But a disappearing phone number is not good unless the underlying phone number is a real phone number. Numbers with a fake area code or numbers that can only call other numbers from the same mobile app download are not the answer. You need a real phone number, with caller ID, caller name, voice mail, no restrictions on outbound calling or inbound receipt of calls, that is on an inexpensive mobile VoIP carrier, that you can deactivate instantly, or change to another number if your virtual number gets in the wrong hands.

I cannot stress enough that I am not talking about a low-quality mobile VoIP app that does not accept inbound calls, or that can only call another app user. This virtual number that can disappear instantly is meant to be used, albeit such use may be temporary. A disappearing number is something you can use for online dating, for responding to a craigslist ad, PVA verification, or to list on a website that requires a phone number.
Every time I shop for new car insurance, I have to register my mobile phone number. For the next three days I receive a dozen calls on my Austin, Texas virtual number, the one I use for Internet signups, which is also verifiable on automated callbacks, and I don’t pick them up. I love having multiple phone lines and identities on my mobile phone.

So which app should you choose that can deliver all these benefits? There are a few choices, but I have to go with the one that has the most phone numbers, VoX Mobile. If you go to Google Play to download the Android version, you will see phone numbers from 57 countries and thousands of cities. It is remarkable what VoX has done. VoX also has an app in the iTunes store.

if you want to get more details about snapchat and virtual numbers stay connected with Mr. Gordon Thompson, free lance writer.