Re:10 Reasons to Fight Cashless Contagion
by danaris on Thursday November 02, 2023 @04:04PM
(#38119270)
> If you're trying to hide yourself from the police when they're trying to catch you personally... I mean, good luck. Even with paper currency.
I mean...frankly, I agree with you there. But there's a significant contingent—including around here—that seem to think that this is not only possible, but highly desirable. (Perhaps not necessarily "hide from the police when they're trying to catch you", but "avoid letting the government have even one iota more information on you than is strictly legally necessary", at the very least.)
You'd be surprised. The ATM knows the serial number of every bill it dispenses, and all those 20's spent at a retailer tend to go straight to the bank where serials are again scanned in.
But yeah, if you're trying to hide your activity from the government, you're going to need a complicated strategy of cards and transfers. This is no different from Bitcoin, or trying to spend cash you stole from a bank.
Digital cash is perfectly fine if you don't want to be tracked by algorithms trying to build profiles of everyone.
If you're trying to hide yourself from the police when they're trying to catch you personally... I mean, good luck. Even with paper currency.