If You Intend to Commit Crime, Don't Use Transit Link Card or Cashless Payment

[AhMeng]

Extradition law: Why Hong Kong protesters didn't use own metro cards — Quartz
qz.com

Yesterday afternoon (June 12), as some protesters in Hong Kong appeared to be dispersing for a lunch break before regrouping later in the afternoon, I noticed something odd at the Admiralty subway station: instead of swiping through the turnstiles with their pre-paid, rechargeable cards, there were scores of people lining up at cash-only ticketing machines.

Protesters had gathered overnight outside the local government offices to protest a controversial proposed extradition bill, which would make it possible to extradite people from Hong Kong to mainland China to face charges. By the morning, the crowd had swelled to tens of thousands as protesters occupied large swathes of a major highway as riot police looked on.

Local Hong Kong residents almost never use these ticketing machines these days to buy single-journey tickets. For starters, everyone has a rechargeable smart card, called the Octopus card, that is widely used across the city to pay for everything from transport to meals and groceries. Purchasing a physical ticket not only takes time, it also costs more than the equivalent trip paid for with the Octopus card. It ends up being mostly tourists who use the ticketing machines.



And yet there the protesters were, queuing in droves to pay for their train tickets in cash. A line of at least 10 metres stretched out from each of the five ticketing machines in one area of the station. One protester said they were afraid of having their card data traced back to them and used as proof that they were at the protest, should the police decide to press charges—as they did against key protest leaders from the 2014 pro-democracy Umbrella Movement.

Between yesterday and today (June 13), police said they have arrested 11 people for the clashes.

“We’re afraid of having our data tracked,” the female protester said. She added that during the 2014 Umbrella Movement protests, this kind of ticket-buying in cash wasn’t as prevalent. But five years on, people knew better and were wary.

The use of Octopus card data to trace criminal suspects is not new. As early as 2010, police used such data to track down a suspect in an acid-attack case, who was later convicted. Each Octopus card contains a chip that stores its outstanding balance and transaction records, and each card has a serial number for identification. These days, they can even be linked to a credit cardto automatically top-up when the balance runs low, making the cards even easier to trace. As police officers put it to the South China Morning Post, the card is like a GPS system because it can locate where and when the holder uses it.

There have been other cases of transit card data being used to identify criminal suspects. In 2001, a New York subway employee was arrested for the murder of his ex-girlfriend, after his alibi crumpled when police analysed his MetroCard data (paywall). The man was later convicted. In another case, MetroCard data was used to charge a man for the 1999 assault and robbery of a supermarket manager in Manhattan.

The Hong Kong protesters’ behavior raises questions about data privacy, surveillance, and the dangers of “smart cities” as companies and governments sweep up ever-increasing troves of personal data. The protesters’ deliberate decision to use cash, despite its seeming inconvenience, also shows how increasingly cashless societies can present dire privacy concerns. Cryptocurrency advocates argue that electronic cash, such as Bitcoin, offers the solution for private digital payments.

 

[AhMeng]

Cashless Economy & Privacy
www.cashless-economy.com

In modern, wealthy and developed countries in general, and in the West in particular, the levels of power of the State have become a source of worry for many citizens. Modern governments now have the ability to track electronic communications, intercept transactions and monitor movements for every citizen within their population - which leads to concerns regarding the future of civil liberties within societies.

The post Snowden era saw the proportion of Americans fearing the government intruding into their private lives reach majority, with an estimated 53% deeming it a threat, and 70% considering the State abused its authority, using excuses such as anti-terrorism, to increase its powers. For some, in the debate of whether or not to keep cash in the future, killing off hard currency would not only be a key to a fairer, less violent, and more egalitarian way of living, but would also be a limit to the State’s power. Indeed, while the State and its central bank are in charge of the main decision-making regarding currency - how much to print, when to change the design, how much to store and release into the economy - much of the money’s management is left to the private sector. Eric Cheng, from the Federal Reserve Bank, says “Cash dispensers, smart-safes, and recyclers have provided banks, armored carriers, and merchants with new opportunities to automate and improve the process for handling cash. Dispensers and recyclers have helped banks and credit unions reshape their branches towards a sale and service business model, rather than a transactions processing model.” Private banks hold and distribute most of the cash, and financial solution companies come up every month with new ways for dealing with money. Dematerialization and decentralization (and thus privatization) of means of payment are therefore a line of defense, cash opponents claim, against monopoly of governments.

But cash-defenders see many holes in the argument. The first is that while some of the organizations which manage cash are indeed technically part of the private sector, they are so deeply embedded within the established and tightly controlled by government agencies that one could hardly consider them counter-powers to State power. Investigators today have no difficulty whatsoever issuing a subpoena to a private company in order to access financial details regarding an operation, and the recipient organizations wouldn’t dare refuse to issue the information. Laura Poitras, from the Spiegel , reveals: “The NSA monitors banks and credit card transactions -- sometimes in apparent violation of national laws and global regulations. The European SWIFT financial transaction network is being tapped on different levels, internal documents from the US spy agency show.” Paypal, Skrill and CurrencyFair may be private organizations, any money stored within those vehicles is visible to - and therefore monitored by - State authorities.

Cash defenders have seen recent pushes against physical currency as examples of how State control over money can be counterproductive. Australia, in its long war on cash which started years ago with banks becoming cashless, has attempted to expand its public policies through the demonetization process. Melissa Davey, from the Guardian, reports on the Australian program to issue benefits to aboriginal Australians through a welfare card rather than cash, and how the program backfired: “One of the four Aboriginal leaders who supported the government’s cashless welfare card trial in Western Australia says he feels “used” by the human services minister and he no longer supports the card [...] He told Guardian Australia on Wednesday he was ready to publicly state the card had not addressed issues of alcoholism and violence in his community as he was led to believe.” ABC News Australia, covering the crisis, comments: “It's absurd that governments say they want to reduce welfare "dependency", yet at the same time actively encourage such dependency by taking freedom of choice away from welfare recipients. And instead of encouraging "financial literacy", income management appears to reduce it - by treating welfare recipients as incapable and incompetent.”

As an expanded illustration of the dangers of increased State control, civil liberties watchdogs name some of the most cashless countries in the world as those with poor human rights records and democratic reputation: Iran, Nigeria, Russia, China, for instance. Countries which have had to endure dictatorships, and have recovered, are more likely to be cautious with the power they give their governments over the lives, such as Germany. Germany keeps its place as favored sociological example, by cash-defenders, of why a cashless society should be feared. Actually, Germany stands out as one of the staunchest cash-users. While the average German will shrug and simply say it’s simpler to keep track of expenses, some experts claim this attachment to currency goes back to German traumatic experience of the Reich, when the population was completely under the power of the State, namely through financial control.

According to cashless-society opponents, it hardly matters whether the control comes from a private or public organization: it’s still control. The difference matters even less when it is known that private companies will obediently inform public ones of whatever it is they wish, for fear of losing their operating licenses. Regardless of technological developments and payment-method variety, the only truly private transaction, in which no third party (public or private) has a prying eye, is cash. With the Internet of things, everything is digital, and therefore registered: telephone calls, transactions, online communications, and social media activity. Cash remains the only economic medium to guarantee complete privacy and protection from governmental abuse.

 

[AhMeng]

In case you are not aware, below is Singapore's Transit Link Privacy Policy

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On 2 July 2014, the Personal Data Protection Act took effect. We take this opportunity to share with you how TransitLink manages your personal data that we collect and comply with the Personal Data Protection Act.


Collection of Personal Data

We request information from you in several ways such as through our website, mobile apps, application portal and forms, surveys, hotline and Add Value Machines[1].

As our premises (including Ticket Offices and Concession Card Replacement Offices) are covered by closed-circuit television (CCTV) for security and quality assurance purposes, your presence may be recorded when you visit our premises.

The information we collect to identify you would include but not limited to:

• your name, NRIC/FIN/Passport number, date of birth, gender;
• contact information such as postal addresses, email addresses, telephone and fax numbers;
• billing information, including name of the credit/debit cardholder, credit/debit card number, security code and expiry date.

Use and Disclosure of Personal Data

TransitLink will generally use the personal data which you have provided for one or more of the following purposes:

• for the supply of services which we may offer to you or you may require from us;
• for identification and verification purposes in connection with any of the services that may be supplied to you;
• for your use of our online services at our website or our mobile apps;
• to provide you access to specific information ;
• to contact you regarding your enquiries or feedback.

TransitLink shall collect, use or disclose your personal data only for the purposes disclosed to you, unless under the following circumstances:

• the disclosure is necessary for any purpose which is clearly in the interests of the individual, if consent for its disclosure cannot be obtained in a timely way;
• personal data is publicly available;
• the disclosure is necessary in the national interest;
• the disclosure is necessary for any investigation or proceedings[2];
• the disclosure is necessary for the provision of legal services by us to another person or for us to obtain legal services;
• the personal data is disclosed to any officer of a prescribed law enforcement agency, upon production of written authorisation signed by the head or director of that law enforcement agency or a person of a similar rank, certifying that the personal data is necessary for the purposes of the functions or duties of the officer.
• the disclosure is to prepare, negotiate and perform a contract with you,
• the disclosure is necessary in the event that we engage other companies to provide services for us in connection with the supply of services which you require from us.

Link to other websites

TransitLink’s website may contain links to other sites that are operated by third party companies with different privacy practices. Please note that we are not responsible for the personal data policies of such other websites and advise you to read the privacy statements of each website you visit.


Access of Personal Data

If you would like to have a copy of your personal data being held by TransitLink, please approach our Data Protection Officer in person. Please bring along your identification card to fill up an application form and have your particulars verified.

TransitLink reserves the right to charge a reasonable fee for the processing of your request to access the personal data.


Correction of Personal Data

If you would like to correct the personal data which you have previously provided to us, please write to:

The Data Protection Officer
Transit Link Pte Ltd
9 Maxwell Road
#03-02 Annexe A
MND Complex
Singapore 069112
Email: [email protected]


Withdrawal of Consent

You may withdraw your consent for the use of your personal data which you have previously provided to us. Upon withdrawal of your consent, TransitLink may not be in a position to continue to provide our services to you. If you would like to withdraw your consent, please write to:

The Data Protection Officer
Transit Link Pte Ltd
9 Maxwell Road
#03-02 Annexe A
MND Complex
Singapore 069112
Email: [email protected]

1. 1. This list is not exhaustive and may include other channels.
   
   
   
2. 1. "proceedings" means any civil, criminal or administrative proceedings by or before a court, tribunal or regulatory authority that is related to the allegation of:
3. • 1. a breach of an agreement:
     2. a contravention of any written law or any rule of professional conduct or other requirement imposed by any regulatory authority in exercise of its powers under any written law, or
     3. a wrong or a breach of a duty for which a remedy is claimed under any law.

 

[AhMeng]

Access of Personal Data

If you would like to have a copy of your personal data being held by TransitLink, please approach our Data Protection Officer in person. Please bring along your identification card to fill up an application form and have your particulars verified.

TransitLink reserves the right to charge a reasonable fee for the processing of your request to access the personal data

Has anyone apply to access your own personal data collected by Transit Link? I wonder how it looks like.

 

[sweetiepie]

as some protesters in Hong Kong appeared to be dispersing for a lunch break before regrouping later in the afternoon, I noticed something odd at the Admiralty subway station: instead of swiping through the turnstiles with their pre-paid, rechargeable cards, there were scores of people lining up at cash-only ticketing machines.

KNN during illegal protest still follow legal paying method gin funny KNN

 

[AhMeng]

KNN during illegal protest still follow legal paying method gin funny KNN

It's Monkey See Monkey Do syndrome. Just need a few fellow protesters telling one another, more and more will follow. Emotions overwhelmed logic. Lol

 

[Asterix]

Want to protest but don't want people to know that they are protesting! What kind of "balls" do these quarrelsome, noisy, rude Hongkies have. China should just send in the PLA to let these monkeys know who is the boss.