I am a Swedish citizen living in Sweden. I pay as much as I can in cash. What the article didn't mention is the payments system Swish requires an Android or Ap

I am a Swedish citizen living in Sweden. I pay as much as I can in cash. What the article didn't mention is the payments system Swish requires an Android or Apple phone, and the electronic ID mentioned requires one of those phone OSes or a Microsoft or Apple desktop OS. There is no solution for those who don't want sign a contract with a US IT giant, or those who want better privacy, or those who only want to use free software. Remember too that every single one of those US companies is required to follow US surveillance laws. Bank cards are an option (though several places are SWIFT-only), but they depend on having a bank account, and the banks depend on SWIFT, which the US controls. Last year the US designated two white-supremacist Swedes as international terrorists, as well as their organization, which meant they all lost bank access, and therefore digital id. See https://www.etc.se/inrikes/efter-terrorklassningen-svenska-banker-blockar-nmr https://www.etc.se/inrikes/efter-terrorklassningen-svenska-b... (requires subscription), translation here: > One of the leaders classified as a terrorist, a 50-year-old man, name not given, says to [the local radio service] that his bank account and card have stopped working. He says he left [the white-supremacist organization] 1 and 1/2 years ago. > "It's completely crazy [...] I haven't done any crime." It doesn't matter if you agree with the classification or not. What's wrong is that Sweden has decided to use a system of electronic payments and identification which is so completely dependent on the US that a foreign country can have such intimate control over a Swedish citizen living in Sweden. It doesn't even need to be terrorism. Google or Apple can decide to close your account at any time, without appeal. The Swedish courts cannot order them to re-enable it. We know this from articles like "A Dad Took Photos of His Naked Toddler for the Doctor. Google Flagged Him as a Criminal" and closed his account, at https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/21/technology/google-surveillance-toddler-photo.html https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/21/technology/google-surveil... and "HC notice to Google India after engineer loses access Gmail, Google Drive, and more over childhood photo labelled 'porn'" https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/technology/tech-news/hc-notice-to-google-india-after-engineer-loses-access-gmail-google-drive-and-more-over-childhood-photo-labelled-porn/articleshow/108687169.cms https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/technology/tech-news/hc-... Think about those two cases as the EU mulls over so-called "Chat Control", with strong support by the Swedish government. Flip it over - the dependency on three large US companies makes it almost impossible to boycott those companies, no matter how bad they are or might be. And they are bad. The lack of cash payment also limits what my kids can do on their own - much more than when I was a kid. Want to play mini-golf? Need a bank card or Swish. Want to go swimming? Need a bank card or Swish. At least the ice cream place accepts cash, but they don't provide change so you better have the exact amount. Yes, kids can get a bank card, but while I'm fine giving my 8-year-old 100 kronor / $10 for a day out on his own, he still loses his library card, forgets his gloves, etc - I don't think he's yet able to keep track of a bank card, much less a smartphone from a company I don't trust. And unlike a can with money, you can't look at a card to figure out how much is available.