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Whatsapp relies on a phone number for account activation though, doesn't it?

And if you lose that phone number and phone, you need to get a new whatsapp number. I have to keep my SIM from New Zealand with me so that when I get a new phone I can activate Whatsapp again.

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WhatsApp uses your phone number as your "ID" but your message history and contacts can be migrated to a new device or number. So there is a concept of an account beyond just your current phone number but it's not exposed to the user directly.

You can migrate your Whatsapp account between different phone numbers. I've done this with SIMs from different countries.

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