Virtual phone number privacy ratings
Phone numbers for sign-ups without handing over a real number.
12 virtual phone numbers are rated against 9 public criteria, and 12 have enough evidence for a letter grade. Of the 10 with a known jurisdiction, 8 are based in a Five Eyes country, and 9 in the wider Fourteen Eyes.
Criteria for this category · Suggest an addition · Markdown
| Name | Grade | Score | Data | Jurisdiction | Open source | No trackers or telemetry | No ads or data sales | Independent audit | Transparency report | Tells users about requests | TLS configuration | Security headers | Modern web standards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Paid phone number service for calls, SMS and MMS through an XMPP account, with optional SIP for calls and numbers in the US and Canada. Run by the MBOA Technology Co-operative using open source Soprani.ca software. |
Grade C | 69 | 100% | Canada Five Eyes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Partial | No | Yes | No | Not tested yet |
Phone numbers backed by physical SIM cards hosted in the cloud, for receiving and sending SMS through a web interface, API or Android app, plus eSIM data plans. Stored messages are encrypted with a user key. |
Grade C | 63 | 100% | United Kingdom Five Eyes | Partial | Partial | Yes | No | Yes | Partial | Yes | Partial | Not tested yet |
Prepaid US phone numbers for sending and receiving SMS, paid in Monero, with access through a web app, command-line client or API. Operated by VoidNetwork LLC. |
Grade D | 53 | 100% | United States Five Eyes | Partial | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | Not tested yet |
Prepaid eSIM data plans for many countries, plus phone plans and SMS verification numbers, bought without an account, email or ID. Accepts cards and cryptocurrency through a self-hosted BTCPay Server. |
Grade D | 53 | 100% | United States Five Eyes | No | Yes | Yes | No | Partial | No | Yes | Partial | Not tested yet |
Disposable and rental phone numbers for receiving SMS verification codes, plus eSIM data plans and a WireGuard VPN, bought without an account, email or ID. Formerly known as LNVPN. |
Grade D | 47 | 100% | – | No | Yes | Yes | No | Partial | No | Partial | Partial | Not tested yet |
Prepaid eSIM for mobile data in many countries, with optional US or UK numbers for receiving SMS and activation calls. No personal data is required, and payment is in Bitcoin, Lightning, Monero or other cryptocurrencies. |
Grade D | 47 | 100% | – | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Partial | Not tested yet |
Phone number service from Google that gives a US number for calls, texts and voicemail through web and mobile apps. It is free for personal accounts in the US and paid as part of Google Workspace. |
Grade F | 38 | 100% | United States Five Eyes | No | No | No | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Not tested yet |
Estonian telecom provider selling physical SIM cards, eSIMs, virtual numbers and SIP calling without KYC, paid by card or cryptocurrency. Registration needs no email or personal details. |
Grade F | 38 | 100% | Estonia Outside Eyes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Partial | No | Not tested yet |
Paid service that rents one-time and longer-term non-VoIP phone numbers in many countries for receiving SMS verification codes. Operated by SMSPool B.V. in the Netherlands. |
Grade F | 38 | 100% | Netherlands Nine Eyes | No | Partial | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Partial | Not tested yet |
Second phone number app from AffinityClick Inc. in Canada. Paid plans provide numbers in many area codes for calls and texts over Wi-Fi or mobile data. |
Grade F | 25 | 100% | Canada Five Eyes | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | Not tested yet |
Free, ad-supported phone number service from TextNow, Inc. in Waterloo, Canada, offering US and Canadian numbers for calls and texts over Wi-Fi or its mobile network, with paid options to remove ads. |
Grade F | 19 | 100% | Canada Five Eyes | No | No | No | No | Partial | No | Yes | No | Not tested yet |
Second phone number app from Ad Hoc Labs in the United States. Paid subscriptions provide disposable or long-term numbers for calls and texts from a smartphone. |
Grade F | 16 | 100% | United States Five Eyes | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Partial | Not tested yet |
Questions
What is the most private option among virtual phone numbers?
No pick has been made yet. The table above is sorted by score, based on public evidence.
How are virtual phone numbers rated?
Each entry answers 9 questions: open source, no trackers or telemetry, no ads or data sales, independent audit, transparency report, tells users about requests, TLS configuration, security headers and modern web standards. Answers need links to evidence. See the full criteria.
Does jurisdiction matter?
Jurisdiction decides which laws can compel a provider to hand over data. Each entry shows its country and whether it is in the Five, Nine or Fourteen Eyes. The data a provider can hand over depends mostly on what it stores and who holds the keys. Read about jurisdictions and the CLOUD Act.