There's a difference between privacy and anonymity. You can have privacy without anonymity. So, it's about what you want out of the app. If you're looking for anonymity then it's not the app for you, and there are other apps that can do that better.

You still require a phone number to register. You can then create a username and hide your phone number. That's what Signal offers at this time.

yeah I have concerns about using signal as well. but that's unfortunately grounds for a witch hunt in these parts.

people who use signal are obsessed with defending it at all costs. they're a scary bunch. the users honestly turned me off to using the app as much as the app itself did.