Cash is So Good - Privacy

We begin our series on the unique attributes of cash with a value which most people in the world rate very highly – privacy. Whereas all electronic, online and card transactions are tracked, cash transactions are private. The cash doesn’t leave a data trail. This makes cash the most silent of payments. A cash transaction happens instantly between the buyer and seller without generating data on the individual which can then be sold on for third-party marketing purposes without that individual’s consent. A cash payment, being private, does not compromise the individual’s right to privacy of information about the transaction. The data generated by electronic transactions, by contrast, can be used and misused numerous times, compromising the individual’s right to privacy. Furthermore, in autocratic, non-democratic states, the data generated from electronic transactions can be used by oppressive governments to track the movements and behaviour of individual citizens, compromising their freedom. There is a growing danger in so-called surveillance societies that human freedom can be diminished to a point where human rights can easily become compromised.   In short, cash is a bulwark against attacks on human privacy and freedom, whether from autocratic governments or from entities selling data about individuals, without consent, to the highest bidder. The privacy of cash protects individual human freedom.