> Which is a very positive thing, it’s an unnecessary extra layer of administration to keep track of the balance, top them up, etc etc.
While true, the negative side of this is that you lose your anonymity.
It allows you be tracked via your card, and if you look at this with an dystopian viewpoint could enable you to become targeted by specific advertising based on your purchases while riding the escalators for example.
Rather than a transit card which isn't associated to any name. At least not on the London Underground
Curious, who are you worried about anonymity from?
If you buy a transit card with a credit card already (how most people do), there goes your anonymity from the transit system.
You can reduce tracking by credit card companies (with is the group I think would be doing a lot of analysis of spending, including when and where you travel (they get when, since it posts immediately, but they might not get where, if the transit billing all originates the same). That reduction in tracking is probably valuable.
I would think facial recognition cameras in transit systems will become commonplace, if they aren’t already. New York is already using other “AI” for fare evasion (saying they don’t currently use facial recognition). Then anonymity is completely out the door.
> It allows you be tracked via your card, and if you look at this with an dystopian viewpoint could enable you to become targeted by specific advertising based on your purchases while riding the escalators for example
Transport for London already do much deeper tracking than that based on WiFi. They know how many people use the stairs vs the escalator, which areas of the station become congested fastest during peak. It's helped them redesign stations for the better. I'm fine with that, I can opt out by turning WiFi off.
TFL is run by the Mayor, so if dystopian microlocation-based advertising was even proposed I would expect it to end very badly for him in a political sense.
While true, the negative side of this is that you lose your anonymity.
It allows you be tracked via your card, and if you look at this with an dystopian viewpoint could enable you to become targeted by specific advertising based on your purchases while riding the escalators for example.
Rather than a transit card which isn't associated to any name. At least not on the London Underground