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Briefing
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- Homegrown Messaging Platform – French government announced development of own end-to-end encrypted messaging service, which will be used by government officials, replacing widely used Facebook-owned WhatsApp and Russian messaging platform Telegram
- Current Testing – 20 government officials currently testing technology, based on open source code, with platform expected to be rolled out to government in summer of 2018
- Citizen Use – App could also be opened to and used by citizens, if government rollout is successful
- Privacy Concerns – Government concerned with potential data breaches and foreign surveillance, as WhatsApp and Telegram’s servers are not located in France
- WhatsApp and Telegram Problems – Facebook, which owns WhatsApp, was recently under fire for mishandling data of millions of Facebook users, while Telegram’s service has been blocked by regulators in Russia for refusing to hand over encrypted keys
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Accelerator
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Market Disruption
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Business Model and Practices
Business Model
and Practices
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Sector
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Government (excluding military)
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Source
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Rosemain, M., "France builds WhatsApp rival due to surveillance risk",
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Lee, A., "The French government is building its own messaging platform after Russian-owned Telegram runs into issues",
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Lomas, N., "France to move ministers off Telegram, WhatsApp over security fears",
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AcceleratingBiz analysis
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Original Publication Date
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April 16, 2018
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