Phone Numbers

Your phone number has quietly become a master key — banks, logins and password resets all hang off it, which is exactly why it's worth protecting. This category is about taking that key back: when a second number makes sense, how a number bought without your name limits what an attacker or a data broker can do, and how to keep your everyday line out of reach of SIM-swap fraud. We cover real carrier numbers versus internet numbers, what each is accepted for, and the trade-offs honestly — including where a separate number genuinely helps and where it doesn't. If you'd rather your real number wasn't attached to everything you sign up for, this is the place.