Why ZanonMail does not ask for a phone number

Most consumer email products treat a mobile number as the price of entry. It is convenient for the provider: it slows bulk signups, recovers locked accounts, and ties a mailbox to a person who can be reached later.

It is also a durable identifier. A number is issued by a carrier, often linked to a passport or a payment method, and reused across apps. Asking for it at signup is asking for a real-world identity, even if the form never says so.

What we do instead

A standard ZanonMail account is created with a local part, a password, and a one-time recovery key. We do not require your name, personal email, date of birth, or phone number. There is no social login.

Abuse is handled with rate limits, a self-hosted proof-of-work check, server-side address caps, and a human abuse desk. That is slower than an SMS code. It also avoids storing a number we do not need.

What this is not

Anonymous signup is not a claim that internet activity is invisible. Delivery still uses IP addresses, TLS, and mail headers. Other providers can see that a message came from zanonmail.com. We do not promise untraceable communication.

If you lose both the password and the recovery key, we may be unable to restore the account. That is the trade for not holding a phone number as a back door.