Venmo responds to privacy vulnerability, consumers want companies to address social justice issues, and Twitter users roast CDC guidelines

Hello, communicators:

Following the Centers for Disease Control’s relaxed restrictions on wearing masks indoors for fully vaccinated people, several major retailers were quick to adjust their in-store mask policies with messaging that emphasized safety and placed a considerable—sometimes questionable—amount of trust in their customers.

“’In accordance with CDC guidelines, individuals who are not fully vaccinated are required to use face coverings over their noses and mouths while inside any Publix store,’ the grocery store chain said in a statement,” reports Slate. “But really the change is just a blanket green light for anyone to shop without a mask because there is no way employees could corroborate the vaccination status of their customers. ‘We will not require proof of vaccination, but we ask for members’ responsible and respectful cooperation with this revised policy,’ Costco said in a statement updating its mask policy.”

Without government direction or a tools to identify who has and hasn’t been vaccinated, retailers pushing messages of good faith onto customers is being met pushback from vocal detractors who feel the relaxed mask guidelines are premature: