SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
With many countries already heading towards cashless transactions, we are facing some hard decisions. These decisions will be made whether we ignore them or not, so to have a say it is essential to be active. These are not new issues, but they are quickly approaching. Dominic Frisby at The Guardian is the latest to take up some of the pertinent questions around the move to a cashless society.
Poor people and small businesses rely on cash. A contactless system will likely entrench poverty and pave the way for terrifying levels of surveillance.
Source: Why we should fear a cashless world
This discussion has been archived.
No new comments can be posted.
In a World Without Cash, Every Payment You Make Will be Traceable
|
Log In/Create an Account
| Top
| 56 comments
| Search Discussion
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
The clothes have no emperor.
-- C. A. R. Hoare, commenting on ADA.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 21 2017, @10:12PM (2 children)
If you told someone from 50+ years ago that they would be able to do all their banking from home and have a single card to replace all their cash I'm sure they would be amazed and quite interested.
Then tell them that every purchase they make with the card will be tracked and the data analyzed to try and sell them stuff, build psychological profiles and track their physical movements. You will be given directions to the nearest bridge along with a a few helpful suggestions. Oh, also let them know that if someone steals their card they could very possibly steal a lot of their money that won't be reimbursed if its a debit card.
We have normalized insanity in the name of convenience. The genie won't go back in the bottle so we need to keep pushing for privacy laws and massive punishments for corporations that don't protect consumer data.
(Score: 2) by Dr Spin on Saturday July 22 2017, @10:44AM (1 child)
You were obviously not around 50 years ago: that was 1967 - a time when people were indeed aware of the possibilities you describe,
and, indeed duly scared. After all, WW2 was still very much in people's minds, and (in the UK anyway) 1984 was on the 'O' level English
syllabus - if not that exact year then within a few years either side.
Computers as "Electronic brains" were also much in the news.
Privacy laws will, as a whole, be not much more use than anti-drug campaigns - at best they drive it underground. Do you know
what GCHQ are doing? what they could do? What they could do but don't, to avoid suspicion of their abilities? (Tin foil won't help).
Ultimately, I predict that what will kill this is "bit rot" and false positives. Watch what happens to spread sheets after a few years,
databases after 10's of years. Hell, the H/Ds on both Linux and Windows machines seem to leave piles of stray bits all over the
machine room floor! And even if the data is intact, with a high rate of staff turnover and piss poor documentation, the system
will fall to bits fairly quickly (ask you local ex kgb man about his experience).
Entropy may or may not be your friend, but it is a powerful enemy!
Believe me: I have consulted with the Dark Lords, and they said "You are fucked, mate".
Warning: Opening your mouth may invalidate your brain!
(Score: 1) by terryk30 on Saturday July 22 2017, @11:40AM
However: cheap storage, big data, AI?