Buzz
We've previously advised you to set your Venmo account to private so that your friends aren't constantly reminded of your unpaid movie tickets from last weekend.
However, that may not be enough to ensure your app activity remains completely confidential. According to USA Today's technology columnist Jefferson Graham, data collection companies may still have access to your information. Graham found that Braze, a data collection firm, had received Venmo records, including GPS coordinates and the names of recipients.
If you're just an average Venmo user, you likely wouldn't realize that this data is being shared. Graham collaborated with Disconnect, a security firm, to analyze what information his apps were sharing with outside companies. He believed setting his transactions to 'private' was sufficient, but while this prevents your peers and the public from seeing your transactions, it doesn't stop Venmo from sharing other details.
It's also a good idea to head into your phone settings and disable location access for Venmo. You can still use the app without any problems.
If you're interested, here’s Venmo’s explanation on how it handles your personal data. Pay close attention to the final bullet point in their list of things that seem fairly standard, such as personalizing your experience:
If you choose to share your Geolocation Information, we may use it to improve the security of our Services. Additionally, we may use it to provide location-based options, features, offers, advertisements, search results, or other location-specific content.
Venmo’s privacy policy on the same page states that you can't restrict much of the other information it shares with third parties:
When you install apps, there's an unspoken agreement: to use the app or service, you’ll have to provide some of your personal details, especially if you're making financial transactions.
A good practice is to check each app's settings and minimize the amount of information shared with third parties. If location access isn’t necessary, just disable it. While privacy is harder to maintain these days, it’s worth trying where you can.
