Venmo announced Tuesday that it would end its public feed feature, which could show users the payments strangers had made and to whom. Privacy advocates had long decried the social feature. Venmo, a subsidiary of PayPal, said in a statement that the social feed in the redesigned version of its app would show users only payments their friends had made. New users’ payments will also still be public by default. The company said in a statement, “This change allows customers to connect and share meaningful moments and experiences with the people who matter most.” The change comes after several privacy-related embarrassments for the company, including the easy discovery of President Joe Biden’s Venmo account, as well as the involvement of the app in the investigation of Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) for alleged sex trafficking.
