Ten Ten, the trendy app that has caused alarm in Europe in just a few months

Every day thousands of new platforms are created and disappear from Google Play – and with almost the same speed – some without pain and glory, others like the application. Eat despite his short career, he has an unprecedented controversy behind him. In just a few months since its launch, this new “app” is causing endless negative reactions from various experts and, even more so, from the authorities of some European countries, who warn about the danger this poses to privacy and security users. Especially for minors.

Since its launch on April 18 this year, Ten Ten has been downloaded just over five million times worldwide. A very significant figure that makes it one of the most fashionable and widespread “apps”. It’s not just its colorful and modern design that has attracted the attention of young users. And also the service he offers, which, although it sounds trivial, allows putting people in contact with people. Described in this way, it does not seem to be much different from other private and free communication platforms available on the huge Internet market, such as WhatsApp.

The big difference with Ten Ten, available for Android and iPhone, is that turns your mobile phone into a walkie-talkie which acts live and directly. As explained in the official Google Play download store, the goal is for users to be able to communicate with each other anytime, anywhere. “Sing, shout or whisper. Your friends will listen to you live on their phone, even when your screen is locked. It feels like they are right next to you,” the description says.

Created by the French Jules Colmar and Antoine Bachet, its effects are not very scientific. You just need to download it, sign up through a giant Google or TikTok account, accept the requested permissions, add mobile phone contacts by sending a code and start sending audio messages in real time. Ten Ten was created to communicate with friends and loved ones with the goal of making contact closer and faster, as if more pressure was needed in these times… The problem is that many users have already begun to flood the networks. social networks with these codes, making it easier for any stranger to contact them. So, if a person has received this number, they just need to add it to the application, press the talk key, and it’s done. The recipient will instantly receive a voice messagewhether you want it or not, whether the cellular device is unlocked or not.

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France has already sounded the alarm about Tenten. Of greater concern is the ease of making unwanted contacts with strangers in the absence of any technological barriers to prevent this, as well as the privacy and security shortcomings associated with its use. So much so that French Interior Minister Camille Chaize He has already taken it upon himself to discredit its use through his official account on X, formerly Twitter. “The Ten Ten app automatically receives IP address, location and other sensitive data such as names, phone numbers, contact preferences… Information that could be disclosed and used by third parties,” he writes.

On the other hand, the doubts generated by Ten Ten have their reasons. The creators of the application themselves do not hide the huge amount of personal data that their business “can collect” as a result of its use. To those pointed out by Shez are added “photos, devices or other identifiers, contacts and email“, reported from the app store for anyone who wants to read the fine print. Now, to be fair, Jules Colmar and Antoine Bachet also stress that “they are as transparent as possible with their privacy policy”, are in a constant process of improvement and that “we will never sell your data.” The statement based on the concerns raised by Ten Ten is not very convincing at this point, and especially not in the hands of the youngest one. they expose themselves to harassment or bullying unwanted and unknown contacts through this modern walkie talkie.

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