5 ms·

Hong Kong Protests Show Dangers of a Cashless Society

48 points by kyleblarson 7y ago

sneak 7y ago
I have been beating this drum for a long time: https://vimeo.com/27653912 https://vimeo.com/27653912
ataturk 7y ago
I hope I live long enough to see us burn this shit down because it has already gone way too far and they're just getting started.
wtdata 7y ago
Sincerely, what is quaint to me, is that they are protesting (sometimes with destruction of public property against the government), yet, they all pay their metro ticket... with money that in the end goes to the government. It would be much easier to avoid government tracking while spending the money, if they would just get into the metro without paying when going to a public protest.
jaclaz 7y ago
While the overall point is IMHO extremely valid (cash is some form of liberty), I somehow feel that something in the matter is queer. Taking public transport to get to the area of the protests might have not been the best choice anyway. I mean, is it so far-fetched that the queues at vending machines are monitored and recorded by security cameras and facial recognition can be later used (syncronized with the actual ticket emission time) if the government wants to know who went where? I see from the photo of the linked within article: https://qz.com/1642441/extradition-law-why-hong-kong-protesters-didnt-use-own-metro-cards/ https://qz.com/1642441/extradition-law-why-hong-kong-protest... that many people wear surgical masks, but I dont think that would be an issue if the governement wants to identify someone. And there is no need of a pre-made database, it can be built later, assuming that the holder of an Octopus card re-uses public transport, you film him/her next time.
- Arn_Thor 7y ago
  If the government has a high-resolution camera and the latest tech maybe.. But a regular security camera would probably need at least eyes plus the nose/mouth to make a facial model afaik. If a person enters their home station wearing a mask, and returns with a mask later, that probably keeps them quite anonymous. A more immediate concern for the protesters is probably that police were stopping young people clad in black in MTR stations at hotspots, as well as those taking minibuses leaving the scene of the June 1 event, and jotting down their IDs.
mindfulhack 7y ago
Any technology that is pro-society should never be over-centralised (e.g. control over citizen freedoms to use that technology). Physical cash is material technically government-controlled and -produced, but people can freely trade it with great independence. I don't think we'll have a big problem here. People's drive to freely trade critical resources between each other is so strong that they'll create their own currencies if they need to - which is exactly what the burgeoning ecosystem of cryptocurrencies already is.
Kasoha 7y ago
article of the week.
WhateverWorks 7y ago
Authority is necessary in an overcrowded society. Democracy is incompatible with high birth rates.

48 points by kyleblarson 7y ago

I have been beating this drum for a long time: https://vimeo.com/27653912 https://vimeo.com/27653912

I hope I live long enough to see us burn this shit down because it has already gone way too far and they're just getting started.

wtdata 7y ago

Sincerely, what is quaint to me, is that they are protesting (sometimes with destruction of public property against the government), yet, they all pay their metro ticket... with money that in the end goes to the government. It would be much easier to avoid government tracking while spending the money, if they would just get into the metro without paying when going to a public protest.

jaclaz 7y ago

While the overall point is IMHO extremely valid (cash is some form of liberty), I somehow feel that something in the matter is queer. Taking public transport to get to the area of the protests might have not been the best choice anyway. I mean, is it so far-fetched that the queues at vending machines are monitored and recorded by security cameras and facial recognition can be later used (syncronized with the actual ticket emission time) if the government wants to know who went where? I see from the photo of the linked within article: https://qz.com/1642441/extradition-law-why-hong-kong-protesters-didnt-use-own-metro-cards/ https://qz.com/1642441/extradition-law-why-hong-kong-protest... that many people wear surgical masks, but I dont think that would be an issue if the governement wants to identify someone. And there is no need of a pre-made database, it can be built later, assuming that the holder of an Octopus card re-uses public transport, you film him/her next time.

Arn_Thor 7y ago
If the government has a high-resolution camera and the latest tech maybe.. But a regular security camera would probably need at least eyes plus the nose/mouth to make a facial model afaik. If a person enters their home station wearing a mask, and returns with a mask later, that probably keeps them quite anonymous. A more immediate concern for the protesters is probably that police were stopping young people clad in black in MTR stations at hotspots, as well as those taking minibuses leaving the scene of the June 1 event, and jotting down their IDs.

mindfulhack 7y ago

Any technology that is pro-society should never be over-centralised (e.g. control over citizen freedoms to use that technology). Physical cash is material technically government-controlled and -produced, but people can freely trade it with great independence. I don't think we'll have a big problem here. People's drive to freely trade critical resources between each other is so strong that they'll create their own currencies if they need to - which is exactly what the burgeoning ecosystem of cryptocurrencies already is.

Kasoha 7y ago

article of the week.

WhateverWorks 7y ago

Authority is necessary in an overcrowded society. Democracy is incompatible with high birth rates.