A new social network is a hit with young people at the moment! Downloaded more than a million times, this fun app sows disorder in classrooms. And that’s just the beginning…
Teenagers love social networks, whether to keep in touch with their friends, share their passions, follow their idols, meet new people or simply have fun. But if parents are generally aware of the dangers of Facebook, TikTok, Instagram and even Snapchat, certain networks are unknown to them. We remember Crush, the “dating” app intended for 10-21 year olds (!) which is more than problematic, or Rencontre Ados, which offers 13-25 year olds (!!) the opportunity to get in touch with other adolescents and which, in reality, mainly accommodates sex offenders and pedophiles.
This time, the attention is directed towards a new one launched at the beginning of April, Ten Ten – nothing to do with the character of Naruto. It’s quite simple, the application is number one on the App Store and the Play Store in the Social Network category, and it has already been downloaded more than a million times since its launch.
On paper, its principle is rather fun. In effect, Ten Ten transforms smartphones into walkie-talkies, allowing young users to chat live with their friends, anywhere and anytime. Simply register on the application via a pseudonym, create a profile and add contacts to benefit from it. A button allows you to send a live voice message, which is automatically read aloud by the app through the recipient’s mobile speaker. All without distance limit.
But then, what’s the problem? First, the application is very popular with teenagers, who have fun performing pranks during classes. Yes, even if you don’t unlock your smartphone or the app is closed, a friend’s voice can come from the device! Ten Ten assumes this in his description: “Sing, shout or whisper… your friends will hear you in real time, even when the phone is locked!” We’ll let you imagine the mess in the hands of young prepubescents… The only way to not be interrupted at any time by an unwanted voice is to put the cell phone in “mode”.Do not disturb“, in mode “Plane” or, quite simply, to turn it off. In short, using Ten Ten means being ready to hear your contacts at any time, twenty-four hours a day.
Secondly, and most importantly, Ten Ten is intrusive. To function, you must enter a nickname and a telephone number, but also authorize access to your contact book and the microphone. In short, the application accesses all the user’s personal data. If you refuse these three accesses, you will not be able to use the app. Taking a look at privacy policy – still being written… – we learn that the app collects “names, telephone numbers, usernames, contact preferences, contact or authentication data and other similar information”.
The same goes for IP address, browser and device characteristics, and location. On the other hand, “all your conversations are ephemeral, we cannot listen to them because we do not store them”, assures Ten Ten. All user data is stored and processed in the United States, which raises questions about our privacy…