Researcher discovers Venmo exposes 'an alarming amount' of personal data in public API

Next time you make a payment on Venmo, beware: almost anyone can track it.

The popular mobile payments app is sharing users' personal data — including real names, comments sent with the payment, transaction dates, and recipients of the transaction — with the public by default. This information is being exposed through company’s public API, and it can be hidden by adjusting your privacy settings from "Public" to "Private."

Security researcher Hang Do Thi Duc recently discovered this "alarming amount" of information being leaked by examining the public API. The reason its happening, the researcher suggests, is because the Venmo app's default settings are set to "Public" for all users. Read more...