Venmo to add Friend list privacy control after US President Joe Biden's list was leaked

Venmo is finally going to bring new privacy options for its users in which they can hide their Friends list. Earlier, several reports on the internet revealed that people can look into their Friends list in less than 10 minutes, and the same happened with US President Joe Biden. According to the company's latest announcement, the platform will bring in three in-app privacy controls so that users can choose to hide or unhide their Friends list easily. So, here is all you need to know about the Venmo friend list privacy feature. 

Details about the Venmon friend list privacy feature

Venmo is a social payments service used by millions of people to make and share payments with friends, family, and select approved businesses. It’s similar to PayPal, but is unique in that Venmo allows users to share and like payments and purchases through a social feed. However, previously President Joe Biden's Friends list was leaked from the platform. But, after this incident, the organisation decided to introduce a new privacy feature through which users get three options. 

The new in-app privacy controls will let users choose between keeping their Venmo Friends list to be public, visible to friends, or private. Although, the feature is just announced and will soon be rolling out to all the users of the platform. Currently, accounts by default display connections or "friends" which will change after the much needed Venmo update.

Jane Manchun Wong, a software developer Jane Manchun Wong was the first to share the news on Twitter last Friday. In her announcement Tweet, Wong wrote - "Venmo is working on friends list privacy settings after Joe Biden's Venmo friend list was uncovered. Users will also be able to choose whether to appear in other users' Friends lists. As of now, Venmo's Friends List Privacy is on "Public" by default." She also added a screenshot displaying the upcoming Venmo update feature by writing - "The screenshot shows "Private" was picked because I tapped the option as soon as I saw it". 

How to hide my Friends on Venmo?

• After the update is rolled out, you can change your Venmo privacy settings easily by following the below steps -
• To set your friends list to be private, tap the three stacked lines on the upper right of the main feed
• Now, you need to tap on the "Settings" option
• Then, choose "Privacy" and tap on the "Friends List" option. 
• Once opened, you can choose between keeping their Venmo Friends list to be public, visible to friends, or private. You can also choose if you want to appear in other users' friends' lists.

IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK