Is Ten Ten dangerous? How the “walkie-talkie app” works and why we're talking about it

When we were little walkie-talkie they were very popular: they were two-way radios, often rather similar to mobile phones, which allowed you to communicate with subjects at a short distance. With the arrival …

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When we were little walkie-talkie they were very popular: they were two-way radios, often rather similar to mobile phones, which allowed you to communicate with subjects at a short distance. With the arrival of smartphones, these fell into disuse, replaced by more visually pleasing and technically more performing tools.

Today, however, they seem to be on the way back: in fact, it was born in France Ten Ten, an app capable of transforming your smartphone into a real walkie-talkie. Available for about a year on the main digital stores, it has gained considerable popularity thanks to TikTok, especially among younger people.

How Ten Ten works

Ten Ten works quite simply. Once you have downloaded the app, simply open it, grant the requested permissions and enter some personal information. These include your profile picture and an account name. At this point it is possible to have friends with whom you want to chat add you. To do this you need to ask them to enter the pin code which you find at the top of the app screen. Otherwise, if you want to add them yourself, you have to press the “+” on the main menu and enter their code.

Attention: it is advisable to give this code only to people you trust because, after granting permission to the app, it will work even in the backgroundi.e. when the smartphone is blocked. The only way to ensure that you are not disturbed is to block contacts or enter the “do not disturb” mode. Once you have added a friend, you will be able to contact him and start talking, as if you had a real walkie-talkie in your hands.

Why it is important to use Ten Ten carefully

The reasons why It is important to use Ten Ten carefully, especially among the younger ones, are varied. Let's look at them one at a time. We have already mentioned the first in order of importance in the previous paragraph: the people with whom you are “friends” on Ten Ten can contact you at any time, even while you sleep or are working; and they can say whatever they want, without filters. For this reason it is extremely important to only add known and above all trusted people.

Secondly, another delicate aspect is that relating to privacy and security as the app is quite intrusive. In this sense, it is essential to refrain from adding strangers, since they may have bad intentions.

Many people, especially in France – where the app is now enjoying great success – are doubting its security, due to the large number of authorizations it requires to use it. Among these are the one to access contacts, photos and videos, smartphone ID, email address, microphone, etc.

Should this be scary? Not necessarily, since most of the permissions are necessary for the app to function. Furthermore, it is necessary to remember that many of the ones we use every day require as many permissions, without however shocking anyone. Should this be reassuring? Absolutely not: it's just a matter of analyzing the issue analytically. The app, as already explained, objectively presents some obvious critical issueswhich however can be overcome simply account deletion.

How to Delete Ten Ten Account

Have you realized the potential danger of Ten Ten and decided to eliminate it? Luckily it's very simple. To do this, simply open the app, go to settings, select “Danger zone“, Then “Delete account” and finally confirm.

You need to keep in mind that if you log back into the app after deletion in 30 days, your account will be recovered. To ensure that it is permanently eliminated, you must therefore refrain from using the app for at least a month.