We are very fond of acronyms in tech. 2FA, PaaS, SSO, etc. They have meaning in English. They now also have their official translation into French.
January 1st is approaching, as are the good resolutions you may make. Among the commitments to be made, there could be the adoption of official French translations of computer terms that you commonly use. In any case, the French language enrichment commission would not prevent you from doing so.
In December, the body also released a new list of formulas and expressions that tech professionals use regularly. Acronyms in particular, like SSO, 2FA, SaaS or PaaS. Despite everything, we find a classic word, “geotagging”, the meaning of which will not escape those with minimal knowledge of English.
For those who wish to express themselves in impeccable French, it is now appropriate to talk about single authentication, rather than SSO (Single Sign On). Behind this acronym hides a process which offers the opportunity to access services or resources of an organization (or several) with the same identification mechanism.
2FA, for Two Factor Authentication, is understood in French as two-step authentication. You use it constantly: it’s when a site asks you for your password, then the registration of a temporary code that you receive by SMS or which appears in a dedicated application. Google and Facebook, for example, use it.
There is also the variation which covers multi-step authentication. Thus, Multi-Factor Authentication, or MFA, has been adapted to step-by-step authentication.
Professional terms also translated
These terms, which the general public encounters daily, are accompanied by other translations which this time concern more the professional tech sector. There is indeed talk of PaaS, StaaS, IdaaS — acronyms for platform as a service, storage as a service and D’identification as a service. In French, this gives DAD, SAD and AUD.
If we unfold these French acronyms, it gives on-demand development platform, on-demand storage and on-demand single authentication. This has the merit of being clearer for individuals. On the other hand, there is no certainty about their chances of being taken over by the pros. Their English equivalents are already well established in the landscape.
Two other expressions also benefited from the attention of the commission in December: geotagging, which is geomarking in French. This concerns the addition of metadata or geographic identifications, for example in a photo, in order to indicate the place where it was taken. It’s easier than investigating what the photo shows.
Finally, there is OTA which has been translated. Perhaps you have come across texts talking about “OTA updates”. These three letters stand for Over The Air. Here, this is understood as a remote update, when a patch is sent via the network, such as on a smartphone. Good luck trying to fit it all in during the New Year’s Eve meal!
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