It’s a Trojan horse for the CBDC, or Digital Euro.
That is a really privacy nightmare.
That is a really privacy nightmare.
It seems like an EU backed cryptocurrency, that could be implemented like monero and be fairly private or like bitcoin with public ledger,
It could also be like credit/debit cards which are already used everywhere...
I'm not looking forward to my purchases being declined because I ate too much beef already, travelled too much, or was caught demonstrating next to people the state does not like.
You're just replacing who controls the currency in the end.
Aslo, try and make a large cash deposit somewhere and see how many questionaires you have to fill in.
Control over cash payments us already a reality.
Jerome, is that you?
Not speaking for the person you asked. My cards are not directly controlled by the state however Visa and Mastercard share all the sales with my government that wants to know how many firearms people buy, how much ammunition and how often it is purchased. [1] I honestly do not know what they do with the data as they haven't intervened in any of the tragic events of late. Anyway that is why I stick with cash and avoid buying things online when I can get them locally. No need for Uncle Sam to keep track of my purchases of inflatable sheep and Velcro mittens which I have no doubt have a special category.
[1] - https://www.oregonlive.com/business/2022/09/behind-the-decis...
The way to defeat that is to vote/get involved/move to countries that are free.
Right now, your scenario is entirely plausible but is not reality, why?
The digital currency just moves power from private entities (visa/mastercard) to governments. Visa/mastercard are actually banning payments already to things like porn and so on, perhaps digital currency will have less moral policing, perhaps it will be anonymous, i havent found any technical details yet
They already have that control via Visa/Mastercard, banks, limits on max amount of cash for transactions, limits on inter state travel with large amounts of cash, and so on... and the world is not authoritarian in the west. In the east it is, and they still have cash.
Voting for wrong people leads to authoritarianism... Or russia invading you and placing their puppets in charge or revolutions...
That said you need a balance, but this total opposition to the state doing anything new to face new problems or offer new solutions is just a naive ideology.
It starts with the government's own services but random third party operators are not ruled out, this is a fundamental building block for an "internet access pass" for all but the most niche sites like this one.
Right now Facebook only asks for ID in case of obvious fake names, because it's a huge barrier to ask people to send theirs just to create an account. This should remain a barrier.