Anyone can track a Venmo user’s purchase history and collect a detailed profile – including their drug deals, eating habits and arguments – because the payment app1default privacy protections. 　　This was the2of a Berlin-based researcher, Hang Do Thi Duc, who3the more than 200 million public Venmo transactions made in 2017. Her aim was to4the privacy risk from using a seemingly5 peer-to-peer app. 　　By6the data through a public application programming interface, Do Thi Duc was able to see the names of every user who hadn’t changed their settings to7, along with the dates of every8and the message sent with the payment. This9her to explore the lives of unsuspecting Venmo users and learn “an alarming amount about them”. 　　The10state for transactions when a user signs up to the app is “public”, which means they can be seen by anyone on the11. Users can change this to “private” by 12to the app’s settings,13it’s not clearly highlighted during sign-up. 　　Do Thi Duc showcases the level of personal date144through Venmo through her project website “Public by Default”, named because when anyone makes a15 through the app, it is public16that person has locked down their privacy settings. Here she has accessed in on five individual users, including a man who sells cannabis in Santa Barbara and a pair of17who pass money between each other accompanied by flirting, arguing, apologies and threats. 　　In the case of the cannabis seller, Do Thi Duc could see 920 incoming payments throughout 2017,18by messages including words like “CBD” (an abbreviation of cannabidiol, one of the active ingredients in cannabis) “delivery”, “order” or emojis .She could also see that the dealer appeared to 19 a second person, making19payments to them throughout the year with20to cannabis sales.