this post was submitted on 10 Jul 2026
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Privacy
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Some ppl use VOIP services and you can temp get a spare # during job searches. Even more, the better VOIP co's let you manage powerful blocklists. For numbers or whole ranges. You can block, you can send to a mailbox, you can even play the 3-tone number-is-disconnected tones. It helps to fight spam.
I don't think we will ever see throwaway phone #'s as common as throaway email tho. Here in north america, our numbers are xxx-xxx-xxxx, so the total pool of them is big but not that big. Many are not even doled out! Like there are no 911-xxx-xxx numbers. That's just one example, a lot of the whole space cannot be used. It isn't as big as it looks. Plus, USA shares the number pool with Canada and some of the Carribean. We don't need intl dial codes to call each other. Which is cool! But it means the pool stretches even further.
Whereas, email is basically infinite.