When you’re going to and from a protest, action, when you’re organizing, doing something that is mission critical, or even just in general, try not to use tap to pay. Tap to pay, as in using your digital wallet (via phone, device, watch, tap to pay credit card) is traceable. When you use it for transportation like with NYC MTA’s OMNY system you can be tracked. When you use it to pay for a water bottle at a protest, for instance, you can be tracked.
If possible, for NYC’s MTA, use a metrocard. Paid with cash is even better since it can be traced back to your credit card. Metrocards can also be purchased in cash at retail locations away from train stations.
During the pandemic, many places and businesses went cashless, and not having a choice makes things more inaccessible. Many cities are trying to make it impossible to buy with cash and we should be fighting this.
When you can try to take out cash before you go to a protest or action. Withdraw it from a location that is not your destination, origin, or even other locations of which you want to be mindful.
Similar to biometric theft, data is gathered when using tap-to-pay systems. It is not always possible because the world is trying to make it more and more difficult to become untraceable and untrackable.
Because we are in a world where entities take our data, steal it, market it, sell it, and use it to train algorithms, all often without giving us the option to opt-out. We need to fight to opt out even more. We should have the option available to us to use cash. We should not be forced to use traceable systems.
If and when you can, opt out opt out opt out.
Comments are closed.