Using Telegram App safely

I want to use the Telegram App.
For security I don't want to provide the app with my real phone number in order to register.
Does anyone have any tips for getting around using your real number?
I have tried several throw away number providers online and also the number provided by Google voice but I never get a text back from Telegram with the needed code to input to activate the app.

i guess your bets bet would be when you go on a holiday outside the US in Mexico for example buy a local sim for your US phone. Use it to register and receive the activation text. Then when you leave to return back to the US simply remove the sim or deactivate it and bingo the phone number they have is no longer yours . In many countries you can buy a sim card for really cheap.

Or buy additional sim card, register it in Telegram then put it out through the window
Google and Chrome are the most popular spies in the world.

Thank you both.

I suppose you are correct mechanic.
It's the devil you know vs the devil you don't.
My impression is that Telegram is more nefarious. I'm probably wrong.

From what i heard there's much less risks on Telegram than on any other social media platform.

If I didn't register in Google I can't make a transfer via my smartphone in Ukrainian bank! That's insane! I can't install any applications either. So, I had to d/l necessary apps via my PC then install on my phone.

Well I was able to do it with a Google Voice number which is not linked to my phone number (supposedly).  However I can't use the desktop pc to view telegram videos.  I'll have to figure how to link the telegram app on my phone to the app on the pc.

finally figured it out. I needed to go to web.telegram.org on my pc browser and enter the google voice phone number there.

l now that you are on Telegram you can watch Denys Davydov' s vivid Telegram videos which shows RuSSian losses in Ukraine. Here's the link to his Telegram page:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Thanks Eric. That's the very reason that I got telegram. Tired of YouTube nurse maids.

Yeah You tube has become restrictive, censorious, deluged with constant publicity. I am getting tired of it. But they have no real competition so they an do pretty much what they want.

ROLF, 1 day is all it took Telegram to ban my Google Voice phone number. Unbelievable. I appealed but I doubt that I will hear from them.

Probably because they dialed the number to make sure you are not a bot and nobody answered?

Maybe. I got a weird text or call that I ignored because I thought it was some weirdo that I did not want to connect with. It is an entirely strange system that they have. What other messaging system dials your personal number?

Telegram is Russian or was invented by a Russian so that can explain the paranoia. Remember the Russian proverb; Trust is good but verification is better?

Yes, and I am paranoid about the ruzzians. I'd rather not use Telegram than to give them my number.

Be reassured Tanker the Russian who started Telegram has left Russia a long time ago and even the Ukrainians love using Telegram as it is not controlled by any nation. TBH I'd feel safer about my private data on Telegram than on any US or China -based social media company.

Why do you have that level of confidence compared to US based social media?

Because it's not controlled by a big media company which tries to ' moderate' content e.g culling opinions or messages they don't like. Do you know that both Ukrainians and Russians use Telegram without interference? The company is not taking sides as US or Chinese ones mostly do and let's people decide who and what they want to watch or read.

I approve of that but it does not mean that your data or information is anymore secure than in any other platform.

No but it's way less likely to be suppressed or moderated.

Also Telegram does not have the US business data which is to mine private data to sell to advertisers . That makes it less likely to want to data in the first place. But sure nothing is ironclad safe in this world where the NSA can tape your phone anywhere.