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It boggles my mind that anyone would want to stream their payment history publicly.
by kinsomo 8y ago
It boggles my mind that anyone would want to stream their payment history publicly.
- anaonmous32rt4 8y agoI agree. This makes me feel old now, and I'm in my early 30s. My wife has access to all my financial information, but I can't imagine sharing it publicly!
- booleandilemma 8y agoEspecially when “the wrong word could get you in trouble”: https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_571f8057e4b01a5ebde34b97/amp https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_571f8057e4b01a5ebde34b97/...
- cortesoft 8y agoIt is so ridiculous that the comment for a payment would be used against someone. Writing jokes in the 'for' line on a check is a time honored tradition when paying your friends money. I don't want to live in a world where I am not allowed to make jokes because it might get me a visit from the FBI.
- gowld 8y agoMaking jokes in private is fine. But publicly declaring an intent to violate the law is a joke that is going to get attention from law-enforcement unless they can be convinced it's a joke.
- lostlogin 8y agoGuilty until proven funny?
- CydeWeys 8y agoWhich is exactly why random bullshit payments shouldn't be public, and why Venmo defaulting to it (or even having it be an option) makes no sense.
- freeflight 8y agoQuite relevant: "Caution on Twitter urged as tourists barred from US." http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-16810312 http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-16810312
- recursive 8y agoThe very point in question is about whether this information is public.
- SilasX 8y ago"Cuba" is not declaring intent to violate the law, and investigating such a case seems like a poor use of law enforcement resources, since a) there are many legal transactions describable as "Cuba", and b) it depends on the violators being overt about their lawbreaking. The payer could very well be referring to drinks at the Cuba Libre bar, or tickets for the Cuba Gooding Jr. movie/show.
- etxm 8y agoI used to write vulgar stuff in the memo line like “hookers” or “blow”. Stupid college shit. One day my bank called me and said if I did it again they’d cancel my account. I asked the rep her name and promised to stop... I wrote “fuck you sarah” for two years until I changed banks.
- kazinator 8y agoSarah got punished twice there. First, being the one who had to make this unpleasant phone call, and then being the target of these notes.
- ShabbosGoy 8y agoWhat an odd thing for a bank to do, police how someone uses a memo line in a check. At least you got your revenge on them.
- toomuchtodo 8y agoIt's my understanding that Venmo will flag transactions with certain words in the memo. "I Tried to Venmo $12.66 for 'ISIS' and the Government Was Pissed It turns out the Treasury Department doesn't appreciate my sense of humor." https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/5gqyzd/i-tried-to-venmo-1266-for-isis-and-the-government-was-pissed https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/5gqyzd/i-tried-to-venmo-1...
- Apocryphon 8y ago
- Paul-ish 8y agoWhy is it important to put jokes there? I view a check as a pseudo-legal document. Do you slip jokes into the contracts you sign?
- RandallBrown 8y agoI draw smiley faces on the signature line at stores and restaurants pretty often.
- function_seven 8y agoA long time ago, checks had to be deposited at a bank counter, in person. If I wanted to embarrass my payee, I'd write something risque or vulgar in the memo line. That way they would have to suffer that embarrassment if they wanted my money. Yeah, it's juvenile. I don't understand why the FBI would care though. There's a 0% chance that a real terrorist is writing "ISIS" on their checks to fund terror.
- DSMan195276 8y agoI would agree, I don't really understand the logic in this thread. You're literally giving the check to a bank who is then going to have read it and look at what it's for and who you're sending the money too - and part of their job is to decide if it is legitimate, or if they should ask you about it, etc. If you put something extremely suspicious or flat-out illegal in the memo line, I would presume they're obligated to at least report it, or else they could be on the hook if it turns out it was actually true and they let it go with no questions asked.
- jliptzin 8y agoToo late, you already live in that world.
- marssaxman 8y agoI don't want to live in that kind of world either, but it goes on existing around me all the same.
- closeparen 8y agoA friend in college got a fun letter from the Comptroller of the Currency after writing “A Night in Tehran” on a reimbursement for Iranian food in Chicago.
- froindt 8y agoDid that happen to be the name of the restaurant?
- justboxing 8y agoApparently people -- even the so called "Smart ones" at Harvard -- just submit their private, personal info. > Zuck: Yeah so if you ever need info about anyone at Harvard > Zuck: Just ask. > Zuck: I have over 4,000 emails, pictures, addresses, SNS > [Redacted Friend's Name]: What? How'd you manage that one? > Zuck: People just submitted it. > Zuck: I don't know why. > Zuck: They "trust me" > Zuck: Dumb fucks. Source: Mark Zuckerberg Called People Who Handed Over Their Data "Dumb F_cks" => https://www.esquire.com/uk/latest-news/a19490586/mark-zuckerberg-called-people-who-handed-over-their-data-dumb-f/ https://www.esquire.com/uk/latest-news/a19490586/mark-zucker...
- ggg9990 8y agoIn Facebook’s early days, everything you put on the site was shared with your friends. So it was not “private, personal, info” but rather the opposite — information that users wanted to publicize widely. I have never put anything on Facebook that I care whether Mark Zuckerberg reads or not. It would be weird and creepy, for sure, if he was looking at pictures of my baby, but I willingly shared those with over a thousand people so am happy to share with one more.
- justboxing 8y ago> So it was not “private, personal, info” but rather the opposite — information that users wanted to publicize widely SSN is not private, personal info? I've never met anyone online or offline who wanted to publicize their SSN widely. Oh wait... that LifeLock dude.... https://www.wired.com/2010/05/lifelock-identity-theft/ https://www.wired.com/2010/05/lifelock-identity-theft/
- SirYandi 8y agoIndeed. My guess behind the attraction to such a service would be that a public spending feed could make one more conservative for fear of judgement. Although if its solely for bill-splitting I have no idea why it is public. Surely people's spending history has some value en-masse, why make that public?
- Apocryphon 8y agoI interviewed at PayPal in 2012, and one of the engineering managers there mentioned the concept of social mobile payments- imagine you pay for a beer at a bar, and it shows up in your feed. I was utterly unconvinced by the idea. It felt cargo cult, adding social for the sake of it. A few years later, Venmo goes big among millennials, and later on PayPal buys them. Go figure.
- gkoberger 8y agoHmm, I think most people use it to pay friends back for brunch or drinks. It's not like you're streaming all your credit card purchases. It's kinda like checking in on Foursquare with friends... it's a public way to expose your social graph a bit. It may not be for you, but people love social media. To put it a different way: it's so successful because, despite there being lots of ways to pay back friends, none of the other ones let you subtly brag that you're out having fun.
- thekingofh 8y agoUgh.
- smacktoward 8y ago> It may not be for you, but people love social media People also love heroin and alcohol and tobacco. People love lots of things that are terrible for them.
- bduerst 8y agoPeople also love exercise, healthy food, and sleep. I don't think payments is something that is social worthy, but comparing them to chemically-addicting substances is a little absurd.
- musage 8y agoThat people like something doesn't mean it's good for them, or even makes them happy: anything that some people really like and that is undoubtedly harmful can serve to prove that point. It doesn't put social media and heroin "in the same ballpark", it doesn't even say social media is harmful, it just says the fact that some people like it isn't saying a lot in itself. (I might add, especially not when it comes in the form of "you don't love it but people love it".)
- gkoberger 8y agoIf you think letting your friends know you just had brunch is on par with heroin or alcohol... well, damn. I think social media can be unhealthy, and I think the pendulum is beginning to swing back the other way, but I support exploring new ways to communicate with the people around you.
- ng12 8y agoWhy not? It seems to be a pretty popular feature -- lots of people post things to be funny and/or brag about their lives. Most of social media exists for people to broadcast their experiences.
- gregoriol 8y agoTechnically, that the thing with Bitcoin and other blockchain currencies
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- DesiLurker 8y agosomething something bitcoin
- harryh 8y agoIt's not hard to understand. My feed is mostly "friends only" but there are a few public posts too, let's have a look: https://venmo.com/harryh https://venmo.com/harryh 1. Tickets for a band. That's cool. 2. Clearly something amusing about jail. 3. A computer. Computers are fun. 4. MEAT 5. Sci Fi movies. Movies are fun. People do this for the same reason they use twitter or facebook or instagram. To share what they are doing in their life with their friends. Most payments aren't top secret stuff, they're just little notes about people's social life.