# War Plans Signal Screwup- The Atlantic is publishing the full messages **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [March 26, 2025, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-plans-signal-screwup-the-atlantic-is-publishing-the-full-messages/1016136 "2025-03-26T12:54:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2025, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-plans-signal-screwup-the-atlantic-is-publishing-the-full-messages/1016136/181 "2025-03-29T17:29:13Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > > [@TroutMan](#): > > > > Transactions default to the most strict privacy setting. > > > [@suranyi](#): > > > > Venmo transactions are public by default. > > Which is it? Also, this seems to be a good example of the confusion surrounding it. Both. When you sign up for a Venmo account, your privacy defaults to Public. You have to change it to private. For any one transaction, the privacy will follow the more restrictive setting. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2025, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-plans-signal-screwup-the-atlantic-is-publishing-the-full-messages/1016136/182 "2025-03-29T17:30:15Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > > [@TroutMan](#): > > > > Transactions default to the most strict privacy setting. > > > [@suranyi](#): > > > > Venmo transactions are public by default. > > Which is it? Also, this seems to be a good example of the confusion surrounding it. It’s both. The security for a particular transaction defaults to the most strict of the two participants’ default security settings. But the default for everyone’s security settings is “fully public to the world”. So if you and your counterparty both have never tightened up your default security, then the entire world can see that you paid me $100 yesterday for “services rendered”. Once you have reset your default to “private to me and my counterparty only”, _then_ every subsequent transaction you participate in will be private like that. I was just on their website to double check my settings. Which were set to fully private. I rarely use Venmo, but sometimes it’s the only option I have in common with my counterparty. Anyhow, I found the settings easy to find, and the options easy to understand. The trouble of course is people that _assume_ privacy is the default and/or who have never read the directions on anything in their life. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2025, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-plans-signal-screwup-the-atlantic-is-publishing-the-full-messages/1016136/183 "2025-03-29T17:34:26Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I remember a few years ago when someone (Madison Hawthorne, I think) got busted for sending underage girls money via Venmo…because everyone can see it. Madison Cawthorne. I’ll never forget the name of that deranged jerk. I always thought it sounded like the most ridiculous name you could think up for the villain in some bosom-heaver of a romance novel. And Madison lives up to the joke his name is. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2025, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-plans-signal-screwup-the-atlantic-is-publishing-the-full-messages/1016136/184 "2025-03-29T17:35:55Z")
If _The Boy Named Sue_ is to be believed, giving a child an unusual name has real consequences. Be careful parents; you may spawn a monster. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2025, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-plans-signal-screwup-the-atlantic-is-publishing-the-full-messages/1016136/185 "2025-03-29T17:38:38Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I get that we’re in an age of social media and everyone wants to share everything, but I can’t see the appeal of sharing how much and to whom you’re sending money, I’d wager the recipients feel the same way. Same reason some people like to drive around in very expensive cars. Because it soothes their fragile egos. That’s not everyone, of course, but I’m sure that’s some people’s reason. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2025, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-plans-signal-screwup-the-atlantic-is-publishing-the-full-messages/1016136/186 "2025-03-29T17:51:03Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > Yes. As long as the other person has Venmo, you just put in their phone #. How is that easier than paypal? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2025, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-plans-signal-screwup-the-atlantic-is-publishing-the-full-messages/1016136/187 "2025-03-29T17:55:52Z")
Who cares whether it’s easier? Both Venmo and PayPal are used by various people. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2025, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-plans-signal-screwup-the-atlantic-is-publishing-the-full-messages/1016136/188 "2025-03-29T18:00:53Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > How is that easier than paypal? Because I don’t know anyone who has PayPal, but everyone and their grandma has Venmo. I also like Zelle, but you have to have a bank that works with Zelle. Anyone can download Venmo. ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2025, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-plans-signal-screwup-the-atlantic-is-publishing-the-full-messages/1016136/189 "2025-03-29T18:04:45Z")
I would never use it except that with two service providers Venmo is all they take and it’s not worth fighting over. I don’t really care that people know I paid my house cleaner or my landscaper. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2025, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-plans-signal-screwup-the-atlantic-is-publishing-the-full-messages/1016136/190 "2025-03-29T18:41:06Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > And there are a couple of other people in my e-mail contacts whose financial transactions are visible. > > It’s actually sort of fun to see the transaction description list > > Bagel! > Bills $500 Jamaica > Cupcake for mom > Massage > Me Chris and Rae > > Don’t provide your friends with this vicarious entertainment, make your account private Why in god’s name would any financial program have this as a setting, let alone a _default_ setting? And why would any sane individual then choose to use this system?!? I’ve heard about this “Venmo” thing, but not being the US, have never used it, and had no idea it was this stupid. ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2025, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-plans-signal-screwup-the-atlantic-is-publishing-the-full-messages/1016136/191 "2025-03-29T18:58:55Z")
It’s the gamification of everything. Robin Hood gives you fireworks when you make a trade because you’re a child who gets gratification for stupid shit. Don’t ask me- I’m way too old to care about any of this. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2025, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-plans-signal-screwup-the-atlantic-is-publishing-the-full-messages/1016136/192 "2025-03-29T20:41:48Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > And why would any sane individual then choose to use this system?!? Because it’s so freakin’ convenient. If I want to pay a service provider who doesn’t take credit cards (say, my handyman or cleaning lady) … I tap a few buttons on my phone. Don’t need to scrounge up cash, don’t need to write a check, and they don’t need to go to the bank. Easy peasy. I never realized the default setting was Public, but I really didn’t care if the world sees that I paid a handyman. But I’ve since set it to private. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2025, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-plans-signal-screwup-the-atlantic-is-publishing-the-full-messages/1016136/193 "2025-03-29T20:47:07Z")
> Because it’s so freakin’ convenient The Canadian equivalent, Interac, is run by the banks and credit unions, so we don’t need to download an app from some company and worry about security. Bank account info is closely held under privacy rules. It’s extremely easy to use. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2025, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-plans-signal-screwup-the-atlantic-is-publishing-the-full-messages/1016136/194 "2025-03-29T20:49:33Z")
After reading your post, I went and closed out my Venmo account. I had never used it anyway. One less thing in cyberspace with my name on it is good. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2025, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-plans-signal-screwup-the-atlantic-is-publishing-the-full-messages/1016136/195 "2025-03-29T21:28:33Z")
The equivalent here is Zelle, which is run by the big banks. It’s extremely convenient. I use it all the time. However, unlike Interac, not every bank participates. As we’ve discussed before, there are really only about five banks in Canada, as compared to over 4000 banks in the US. So it’s harder to get uniform adaptation of any financial technology. The advantage of Venmo is that it’s independent of the banks, so you can use it even if your account is at one of the tiny local banks. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2025, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-plans-signal-screwup-the-atlantic-is-publishing-the-full-messages/1016136/196 "2025-03-29T21:28:40Z")
It’s payments + social networking, the public payments make it easier to add people in your friend group. Think college kids who are constantly changing money with friends of friends who they may not otherwise have contact info for. Yes, easy enough to get, but even easier once your friend Jen pays Liz and you can then see it and click on Liz’s name knowing it’s the right Liz. Is it the best system? Surely not. Is it even a good system? Probably no. But slightly lowering the barrier to make payments to causal acquaintances helped it build a user base, and so it out-competed other apps. I myself have not changed my default settings. I used to set individual transactions to private but at some point I stopped caring. There’s no real data leak in random friends or friends-of-friends or even strangers knowing about my kid’s weekly music lesson. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2025, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-plans-signal-screwup-the-atlantic-is-publishing-the-full-messages/1016136/197 "2025-03-29T22:10:52Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > But slightly lowering the barrier to make payments to causal acquaintances helped it build a user base, and so it out-competed other apps. That’s really the point. The system was designed from the git-go to do its own advertising to your friend and acquaintance group. And those peoples’ friends and so on. Making everything public is how those connections are exposed for others to piggy back on. None of that is a good idea for anyone but Venmo’s stockholders. But since there are no financial privacy laws in the USA, that wasn’t an obstacle. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2025, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-plans-signal-screwup-the-atlantic-is-publishing-the-full-messages/1016136/198 "2025-03-29T22:20:52Z")
Swearing back to the general area of the Signalgate brouhaha, it seems that Hegseth Ajax Mr. Whiskyleaks has also been allowing his wife to sit in on sensitive meetings. > **['Hold my beer': Pete Hegseth ridiculed by Dem lawmaker over wife report](https://www.rawstory.com/hegseth-wife-beer/)** > > Reacting to a Wall Street Journal report that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has been dragging his third wife along with him to intel briefings, Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) took a personal jab at the Donald Trump nominee.On Friday, the Journal reported... ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2025, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-plans-signal-screwup-the-atlantic-is-publishing-the-full-messages/1016136/199 "2025-03-29T22:32:50Z")
I saw news reports that the text message chain revealed information about how the Houthi leaders were tracked; their girlfriends were watched. So that’s not information that needs to have been shared. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2025, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-plans-signal-screwup-the-atlantic-is-publishing-the-full-messages/1016136/200 "2025-03-29T23:14:11Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > The Canadian equivalent, Interac, is run by the banks and credit unions, so we don’t need to download an app from some company and worry about security. Have you seen the way American banks operate? To me, “run by the banks” means that I do need to worry, very much, about security. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-plans-signal-screwup-the-atlantic-is-publishing-the-full-messages/1016136.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-plans-signal-screwup-the-atlantic-is-publishing-the-full-messages/1016136.md?page=11)