There was the “Olvid circular”; there is now the “Tchap circular.”
The first was issued in November 2023. It called for deploying Olvid on the phones and computers of Government members and ministerial offices. The main rationale: “The main consumer messaging applications[…] do not allow[…] to ensure the security of conversations and information shared through them.”
It was not a matter of uninstalling the consumer messaging services in question, Matignon had clarified, but of using Olvid for exchanges that are “professional and confidential,” notably between aides and between ministers.
Tchap Finally Takes Center Stage
In the “Tchap circular,” dated July 25, 2025, the rhetoric is similar, albeit the warning is broader. “Certain commercial messaging services marketed as secure are under the influence of foreign countries, which are likely to implement technical or legal measures to access the communications exchanged,” we are told.
The provisions aiming to “deploy Tchap widely” will take effect from September 1, 2025. Olvid “also meeting the security objectives,” the ministerial offices currently using it may continue… while nonetheless preferring Tchap as soon as it concerns exchanges with the state administrations.
The initial choice of Olvid may have been justified by Tchap’s relatively limited use outside the administration, making communication difficult beyond that perimeter. This was, in any case, the Court of Auditors’ interpretation. Last year, it had expressed reservations about the cost of this messaging service relative to the number of users. By the end of 2023, fewer than 200,000 agents were actively using it, while Tchap accounted for most of the deployment costs of La Suite Numérique (60%) and a large portion of maintenance costs (40%).
