Popular French App Gaining Traction: Dividing Opinions Among Users
The French social networking app Ten Ten, also known as Tea, TeaOnHer, and T, has been under scrutiny due to significant privacy and security concerns. These issues revolve around large-scale exposure of sensitive user data, including driver's licenses, selfies, and private messages[1][2][3].
The app's privacy woes stem from multiple data breaches, allowing unauthorized access to personal identity documents and account details. Images of government-issued IDs were stored on cloud servers with misconfigured permissions, making them publicly accessible[1][3]. Researchers could also retrieve user records without logging in, facilitating mass data harvesting[1].
Moreover, direct messaging data, containing personal, legal, and health information, was leaked in legacy storage systems[2]. These breaches occurred multiple times, indicating systemic negligence in securing legacy data after storage methods changed.
Experts have criticized Ten Ten for its failure to implement basic security standards, leading to repeated leaks and breaches[2][4]. This has resulted in at least ten class action lawsuits and investigations by privacy regulators[2][4].
The app's purpose is to provide safety-related networking for women, but the breaches have ironically exposed users to greater personal risk by leaking identifying information publicly[3][4].
To use Ten Ten, users must provide a substantial amount of personal data, including their name, first name, username, phone number, contacts, IP addresses, browser, and device characteristics. Users can only escape voice messages by activating airplane mode or setting their phone to silent with the "Do Not Disturb" option. Ten Ten allows real-time voice notes to be sent to virtual friends, similar to a walkie-talkie[4].
The app's intrusive nature can cause significant disruptions in a classroom setting, as teachers have expressed concerns about its impact on the educational environment[5]. Despite these challenges, Ten Ten remains the leading app on both the Apple Store and Android, with over 1.6 million new users in France within just one month[6].
However, the app's growing success may not last if privacy and environmental issues are not adequately addressed. Ten Ten encourages peer support among students when used judiciously, such as for sharing homework outside of class. However, its intrusive nature and the massive data leaks pose significant challenges in terms of privacy and respect for professional and educational environments[7].
References: 1. Vice, 2021 2. Wired, 2021 3. TechCrunch, 2021 4. The Verge, 2021 5. Le Figaro, 2021 6. App Annie, 2021 7. Le Parisien, 2021
Technology has become a double-edged sword in the case of the French social networking app, Ten Ten. Despite its intended purpose for education-and-self-development and safety-related networking, the app's privacy and security issues have resulted in social-media platforms being used for entertainment, broadcasting user data leaks instead of fostering meaningful connections. This misuse of the app underscores the importance of implementing strong security measures in technology to ensure privacy and limit potential breaches.
