Venmo Refuses To Say Why Transactions Are Public By Default (zdnet.com) 47
Venmo, the mobile payments app, won't say why it exposes users' data to the world whenever they make a transaction. ZDNet: Hang Do Thi Duc, a Berlin-based privacy researcher found that every time someone sent or received money using the PayPal-owned mobile app (which had over seven million users in 2017), the transaction was "public" by default and was broadcast on Venmo's API. In other words, everyone can see your transactions -- even without the app. The company did not respond to ZDNet's queries, but in a blanket statement said it takes privacy of users seriously.
Further reading: People Are Using Venmo To Spy On Cheating Spouses.
Further reading: People Are Using Venmo To Spy On Cheating Spouses.
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I've always used actual cash primarily because of this
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I only use gold coins and .22lr rounds because I am a libertarian.
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You elites with your fancy gold coins and ammo; when I was a kid we used Monopoly money and rusty BBs and we were happy to do so. And it was uphill both ways wherever we went.
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Wrong, Libertarians hoard silver (Ahem, Liberty Dollar, anyone?)
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A silver standard does make a lot more sense than a gold standard. Gold is just too rare, possibly a key contributor to the great depression was the lack of money supply for the expanding economy after the switch to the gold standard removed silver money.
The history of a ~25g silver trade coin is actually kind of interesting. From the German thaler thru the Spanish peso (piece of 8), the Japanese yen, Chinese yuan, to the US dollar. It is a really interesting common trade currency. The fact that the size of
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I've always used Square Cash primarily because of this
Seconded.
Perceived network effect and gamification (Score:4, Interesting)
Venmo Refuses To Say Why Transactions Are Public By Default
Its an attempt to increase users and usage through a perceived network effect and through gamification.
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this is an attractive theory, but needs a solid citation.
Re:Perceived network effect and gamification (Score:4, Funny)
Its an attempt to increase users and usage through a perceived network effect and through gamification. [1] [slashdot.org]
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I STAND ASSUAGED!
why not? (Score:2)
as long as they are open about transactions being public. why not?
if customers want, they can seek private transactions service elsewhere.
Re:why not? (Score:4, Informative)
Most people won't realize their transactions are public. Hence the privacy issue.
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Yea, Amazing discovery there bud...
It took me I'd say less than 5 seconds of using the app the first time to see this as there are basically 3 tabs across the top. Me, Friends, and Public.
The largest section of the wikipedia article about venmo is a description of this feature...
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It's pretty obvious when your transactions get likes
At that point your first transaction is already public. The first time I used Venmo, I did not realize my transaction was public. It was a small reimbursement for something innocuous, but I was still surprised that other people could see it without my consent. There was no warning or notice that "the whole world is watching".
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It was obvious to us when we started using it. The wife and I went back and forth quite a bit when she wanted to use it. She argued that the open transactions are a feature. If we wanted to keep a transaction private we'd use cash or paypal. She said it's a good thing to be able to see what other people paid our neighbors for babysitting. It's also a great place to leave a thank you or small message.
I personally don't get it but my wife wanted to use it and I didn't see it as any less secure then using payp
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It's not a big deal, switch her Venmo transaction privacy setting to private and they wont display. Problem solved.
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That was my argument. I guess it's the inconvenience of having to make sure you have the cash. I also think there is some sort of social network aspect to using it that my wife likes. Again, I don't get it but she was pretty insistent.
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I apped once - but I didn't inhale.
Scary amount solutions (Score:2)
I used Venmo's public API to pull in all public transactions of 2017 -- a total of 207,984,218 transactions," he said in an email. "By looking through them, I learned a scary amount about Venmo users. I was able to follow a drug dealer's sales, ...
Well... if drug dealers would only accept MasterCard, VISA or a personal check ...
Why? (Score:2)
When I first heard the youth were using this, it just sounded like an easy to use paypal for the things that paypal was initially made for - paying your pals at dinner etc.
Then I learned about this "social" aspect and all I could think was "why the hell would anyone do this"? That's still my feeling.
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Its ok (Score:2)
My younger friend (he's 24) has been staying on my boat while he looks for a new place, has been venmoing me "rent" money for a couple of months. The public feature doesn't seem that useful, we put memo notes like "for helping trump collude better with russia". I didn't use the memo feature in paypal, still don't use it with venmo.
Probably why they make it public is because it's the only globally unique thing their payment app does, otherwise anybody can replace them.
I'll tell you why (Score:3)
"Venmo, the mobile payments app, won't say why it exposes users' data to the world whenever they make a transaction"
I'll tell you why....the reason is because they don't give a shit about you or your privacy.
You're welcome.
Fun Fact: You can't unpublic your transactions... (Score:2)
Disclaimer: Tested one month ago on Android, YMMV, void where prohibited.
Public Ledger? (Score:1)
There is something to be said for potential fraud prevention of having a public ledger.
It probably can help keep them out of hot water from potential misuse.
Admittedly if this was the interest, they probably would not make it optional.
Venmo takes the privacy of their users seriously (Score:2)