HN Explorer

Prove email and phone are required in online services

2 points by i_see_things ↗ HN
I'll pay you $160 if you can prove mathematically that the only way to offer online services without spam is by requiring people to provide an email address or a phone number. That would be an interesting result.

If this can't be proven mathematically and you are an online service then please answer: why must online services require users to provide an email address or a phone number to get service? Why is no other option offered to the user?

Why is it impossible for a human to use online services while not having an email or a phone?

9 comments

[ 4.7 ms ] story [ 35.6 ms ] thread
mattl
What would you use instead of an email address to identify a user upon registration? An email address is something most people have and its a workflow people are familiar with.
hitpointdrew
I think the point is NOT to identify users, but only to not have spam/bots. Unless it’s a paid service, users should not have to identify themselves. You can keep out bots with CAPTCHA.
i_see_things
Users should not have to identify themselves regardless of the service being paid or free. Because stopping spam and bots is possible without requiring the user to provide an email or a phone number.

Nobody cares about anything.

mattl
How do you propose password resets work without an email address or phone number?
numtel
Could use Sign In With Ethereum using a social recovery wallet but I don't think all the pieces are ready yet.
hitpointdrew
How do you purpose Netflix, Salseforce, etc. charge their clients if they don’t even know who their clients are?

Please don’t say crypto.

jaclaz
>Why is no other option offered to the user?

Name these other options, please.

i_see_things
One is the same option you used to signup for HackerNews: a new username. Not a pre-existing email or a pre-existing phone number.
jaclaz
I thought that an e-mail was asked also on HN, maybe it is optional?