The spokesperson for the Ministry of the Interior and Overseas Territories warned this Tuesday of the dangers of the new Ten Ten application, which appeals to adolescents, evoking “serious dangers to online privacy and security”. Launched at the beginning of April by the Frenchman Jules Comar, it is now the most downloaded French application on Apple Store and Android stores. How does it work? Is it dangerous? Here’s what we know about Ten Ten.
loading
How it works ?
The app works like a walkie-talkie. If a young person wants to use Ten Ten to contact one of their friends, they can send them a recorded voice message. Except that unlike Messenger or Whatsapp, applications on which you decide when to listen to the message, on Ten Ten, the received message is triggered automatically. Voice comes out of the phone’s speakers even if it is locked, in silent mode, and the app is closed. “Sing, shout or whisper, your friends will hear you in real time”summarizes the application description.
Everyone around you can therefore hear the message, so cause a few sweats in public transport for example. On your screen, the name of the person with the phrase “is speaking” is displayed and then the sound is played. Once the communication stops, a small “finished” notification appears on the phone. If you want to respond, you just have to select the contact, click on the button that represents the connection and wait for it to be established to speak. To add friends to the application, you must share a PIN code specific to each user, which allows you to filter out possible unwanted contacts.
However, users can avoid being disturbed by putting their phone in “do not disturb” or turn it off. The option “mute” is also available in the application to prevent being disturbed by one of your contacts.
Does the app disrupt students in class?
Ten Ten is becoming a topic of discussion in the corridors of schools, the application disrupting the good concentration of students. Voice messages sometimes go off in classrooms, during class. Teachers are sometimes forced to confiscate cell phones. On TikTok, some teenagers even explain that they got stuck because of Ten Ten, tells -. Questioned by AFP, a college professor in the Paris suburbs explained: “It lasted two days and the students themselves deleted the Ten Ten application which led directly to the confiscation of the cell phone.”
Does Ten Ten increase the risk of harassment?
On X, Camille Chaize, the spokesperson for the Ministry of the Interior, points out these instant messages which “increases the risk of online harassment and invasion of privacy”. The spokesperson suggests to parents “to discuss and inform your children about the risks”advocating a use that “must be done with great caution.. She advises to “turn off notifications at night and in quiet places like school”and of “limit contacts allowed to send voice messages”. Finally, she invites parents to “raise children’s awareness of the dangers of online harassment and cyberbullying”.
Is there a risk for personal data?
In Ten Ten’s privacy settings it says that “all conversations are fleeting” And “we will never sell your data”. Faced with the outcry caused, the creators posted a layer on their social networks, explaining that even they “can’t listen” our conversations.
But the spokesperson for the Ministry of the Interior and Overseas Territories discusses a confidentiality policy on X “being finalized”, which collects a lot of data such as name, telephone number, nickname and contact preferences, but also IP address and location of users. Of the “sensitive information”Who “may leak and may subsequently be re-cut”. Furthermore, private data may be used by Ten Ten teams when it is “reasonably necessary” in their commercial interest, indicate the privacy settings.
