Use cases
Source contact for journalists and researchers
Who this is for
Reporters, NGO staff, academic researchers
Quick answer
The problem
A contact number that resolves to your identity puts sources at risk, not just you. In some contexts the existence of the contact is itself the sensitive fact.
What to buy
A dedicated line in a jurisdiction that suits the work, retired at the end of the project. Message retention is 24 hours by default, so there is no archive to seize.
Recommended
Recommended configuration
Term
6 months
Save 20%
Countries that work best
Use cases
Other reasons people buy a line
Keeping your number out of every signup form
Retailers, delivery apps, loyalty schemes and marketplaces all demand a phone number to function, then leak it in the breach they have three…
Selling on marketplaces without publishing your number
A listing with a phone number attached is a permanent, searchable link between an item, a location and a person. Buyers keep the number.
A local number where you are travelling
Local services increasingly reject foreign numbers — bank OTPs, delivery apps, ride-hailing, restaurant bookings.
Separating a side business from your personal life
Handing clients your personal mobile means they have it forever, including at 11pm on a Sunday and long after the engagement ends.
Dating without handing over your primary number
A name, social profiles and often an address are all reachable from a phone number.
A recovery number that is not your main one
Using your primary number for account recovery makes SIM-swap attacks catastrophic: one social-engineering call to a carrier support desk…
Testing SMS flows across countries
You cannot test international SMS delivery without international numbers, and buying SIMs in nine countries is not a realistic engineering…