One effect could be to force those of us who arrive in the City to be anonymous and ourselves onto our bicycles as the only way of maintaining this. Welcome the return of the city of vagabonds, rogues,journeymen and lesser yoemen those instigators of dissent who flocked to the new cities and forever will be the- Masterless Men- who Cromwell and Parliament could never live with.

All out for the next Critical Mass.

In New York it only cost 2 Dollars (approximatly 1 pound) to ride the subway, and an unlimited pass is 24 dollars a week. And the NYC subway is far bigger than the Tube and the NYC subway runs 24 hours a day, every day of the year.

The Oystercard system is also a PFI, its disgusting that the mayor should be using his powers to help private companies at the expense of the public.

"Mr Livingstone has admited that the aim is to get more people to use the Oyster card technology which enables the authorities to monitor the movements of individuals using public transport"


Well yes they could do that, but only if you gave them your name and address when you bought the card.

I don't know anyone who was stupid enough to do that...

And what kind of GOON is your hero, 'Red Ken'.

With patience, every question gets an answer. Blair's covert high-ranking goon, Livingstone, has been key in fronting a whole series of awkward initiatives in London. The UK puts its public under greater surveillance than any other country on this planet, and London has the greatest number of surveillance devices in the UK.

Livingstone is the goon of visible and covert surveillance in London. He has never seen a POLICE-STATE method that he didn't like, and didn't back with total enthusiasm. For a minister of the crown to achieve what Livingstone has bought to pass in his brief time would have been virtually unthinkable. And the 'device' that made this possible??? Once again, the old favourite- the MOCK falling out between friends. If you were fooled back then, you should certainly have seen enough to NOT be fooled now.

So now, Blair's goon Livingstone says "be tracked on public transport, or else!". You might want to take this seriously, given Livingstones loving support of Ian Blair, and his 7 to the head policy.

Yeah, so is the NIGHTMARE getting bad enough for you yet??? Still waiting for 'mommy' to wake you up, and reassure you that the real world is all fluffy bunnies, and jolly holidays??? Never mind, perhaps you can escape to your own insane happy reality, like the 'hero' at the end of 'Brazil'.

indeed!! as mentioned above - whose name and address you give is really up to you!! although i spose with increasing use of face recognition technology this could be a problem in the future.

A few things appear obvious to me...

1. Oyster cards will eventually complety replace cash transactions and if you want to use public transport you will have to get an Oyster card.

2. The 'dicount' prices on Oyster card are temporary and when most people have made the switch the prices will rise substancially.

3. At some stage you will be forced to provide a validated name and address to have and use an Oyster card (in order to stop terrorists obviously).

How would a valid name and address stop terrorism? Suicide bombers do not need return tickets and it is a bit difficult to be anonomous when you head is rolling around the ground. My guess is Ken will just sell the details to mail order companies just like by local borough flogs off the electoral register to junk mail companys.

I am getting a bike, if it gets any more insane in this country I am getting a boat.

The use of the Oyster Card has the potential to go way beyond simple monitoring of travel on public transport as this government report makes clear.
www.egovmonitor.com/node/107

Integrating Oyster Cards with other smart cards is already in use in some London boroughs - how long before Library Cards are integrated? Combined with increasing use of RFID tags which have the potential to track the movement of any and every item you own or purchase the implications for privacy and civil liberties are alarming.

Indymedia readers might also be interested in this article on Oyster Cards:
www.spy.org.uk/spyblog/archives/000198.html

I am already glared at, like a diplodocus on the bus, by bleeping passengers, because I pay with old-fashioned money when boarding.

The cashless society is a drag, I like coins jingling in my pocket. I guess 'penny for the guy' and 'bob a job week' will be phased out?

Using things like the Oyster Card system to track individuals is only workable as has been said - if you give them your real name, address etc.. This information means nothing without either recording your image (as per airports) and/or compulsary ID cards to permit a card purchase.

Then sure, there are the reports of soon to be compulsry radio chips in car licence plates... It is the beginning of a totalitatian police state. If the population as a whole don't seriously start to do someting about all this then we'd all better get used to it and quit complaining!

> Using things like the Oyster Card system to track individuals is only workable as has been
> said - if you give them your real name, address etc.. This information means nothing
> without either recording your image (as per airports) and/or compulsary ID cards to permit
> a card purchase.

I am affraid that is simply not true, as any terrorist caught thanks to mobile phone records could testify if given a chance.

Not have a correct name or photo attributed to a record is not a problem. Imagine you are stopped and arrested leaving the tube one day, they take your card and on checking the records they discover that some of your movements match the journeys of another subversive recently banged up for life for thought crimes. They know it's your card regardless of what false name you have been using it under.

Or, how about you have been attending secret meetings of a group of resistance fighters plotting the overthrow of the UKs military dictator. One night you a late leaving the house and arrive at Green Park Tube near the secret venue slightly later than usual. Turning the corner you find the venue surrounded by soldiers and all your comrades being taken away by the thought police. You return home in a daze and spend a restless night worrying about whether anyone will snitch on you. In the morning you decide you should go to work as normal. You walk to the station and pass you Oyster card through the barriers. Within seconds you are apprehended by the thought police.

How did they get you? Did somebody grass you up? How could they, they don't know your real name! No. The cops had checked the Oyster card records of your captured commrades and ran a query to find any other cards which had in the past arrived at Green Park Tube at around the same times as those who had now been arrested. Then they simply examined your regular movement to decide the easiest place to pick you up.

Just like 'anonymous' pay-as-you-go mobile phones, paterns of use and association will be available which can reveal your identity almost as certainly as if you can given them your real name and address.

Sorry, you thought your phone was anonymous? Not if your mum has called you on it. Not if you've left it on while at home each evening. Not id you HAVE turned it off each time you've returned close to home. Not if you've called friends whos phones ARE registered!

1. The exact time and date of each Oyster Card use is recorded to a database.

2. CCTV cameras record date/time stamped images of Oyster Card users as they proceed through the ticket barriers. The London Underground CCTV data is stored digitally, so affords random access.

Therefore, even though an Oyster Card has been registered anonymously (false details submitted), images of the user are recorded at the time of use.