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from the bills-have-serial-numbers-so-only-use-change dept.
Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
Many Austrians value their privacy and won't accept someone to keep track how many beers they drink. It may sound like a strange thing to enshrine in a country’s constitution: the right to pay cash. But a debate on whether to do just that has entered Austria’s election campaign, shining a light on the country’s love of cold, hard currency.
The Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP, EPP-affiliated) recently made the suggestion as part of its campaign for a parliamentary election in late September, for which it has a commanding poll lead. This led to other parties — though sceptical of the ÖVP’s proposal — vaunting their commitment to protecting cash, with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPÖ) demanding an end to fees levied at cashpoints.
And it is not hard to see why all major parties see protecting cash as a vote-winner.
“In Austria, attitudes change slowly,” an employee of Weinschenke, a burger restaurant in downtown Vienna, told AFP. The woman in her 30s, who only gave her name as Victoria, says she prefers to use cash because “you don’t leave a trace”.
Financial law expert Werner Doralt says Austrians put a high value on privacy and are wary of anything that could be used to keep tabs on them, such as card transactions. “If for example I go shopping, and it’s recorded exactly how much schnapps I’ve bought, that’s an invasion of my privacy,” he says.
A recent survey conducted by the ING bank in 13 European countries, Australia and the US, showed Austrians were the most resistant to the idea of giving up cash payments.
Just 10 percent of those surveyed in Austria said they could imagine doing without cash, compared to a European average of 22%. According to European Central Bank data compiled in 2017, cash accounted for 67% of money spent at points of sale in Austria, compared to just 27% in the Netherlands. Even in neighbouring Germany, another country known for its attachment to cash, the rate is only 55%.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Thursday September 05 2019, @03:37PM (5 children)
Is it coin, or paper?
In a future where anybody can counterfeit anything, will the serial numbers on the paper cash be tracked?
If the serial numbers on paper money start being tracked, is it really any better/different than using a credit card?
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 4, Informative) by JoeMerchant on Thursday September 05 2019, @03:47PM (4 children)
I mean, this is silly: http://www.trackdollar.com/ [trackdollar.com]
but, the technology exists - major retailers could easily optically scan every bill as it enters the cash drawer, along with a facial recognition indexed video of the customer spending that bill, and they could share this information with each other and law enforcement...
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 05 2019, @05:14PM (1 child)
HTF is that site different from wheresgeorge.com?
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Friday September 06 2019, @01:30AM
I guess it's not, if they ever figure out how to effectively monetize their data I would expect all these kind of sites to consolidate.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 06 2019, @09:12AM (1 child)
While scanning the bill is probably ok, that second suggestion is a big nono in Europe and would require them to obtain written permission for the recording from every single visitor. (law enforcement has exemptions to this for their cameras)
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Friday September 06 2019, @05:29PM
Oh, I feel so much better, now.
So, if I put a front door bell camera on my house in Europe, I have to station somebody outside to collect written permission from everyone who approaches the door? Seems... counterproductive to video security systems. Ditto on ATMs, etc.
🌻🌻 [google.com]