FastCompany:

When you think of companies that violate your privacy online, chances are Facebook is one of the first names that come to mind. But there’s another common app that should: Venmo, the PayPal-owned peer-to-peer payment app that lets people send money to friends, family, and anyone else you need to pay (including, for instance, drug dealers). The payments you make on the app, complete with a cute little emoji or note, are public by default, which means that many users don’t realize just how easy it is for the rest of the world to observe the $35 billion in transactions made on Venmo.

When I first read this, I was shocked. This is such a basic breach of user etiquette, so egregious, I struggled to believe it was true.

But I popped open my Venmo app, jumped over to Settings > Privacy and, sure enough, my Default Privacy Setting was set to Public (Visible to everyone on the Internet).

Why, Venmo? Why would you ever think that the transfer of money would be something I’d want to share with the world? What possible use case is that?

And even if there is a case for public visibility, why make it the default?

The mind reels.