[HN Gopher] National Park Service Sued over New No-Cash Policy a...
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       National Park Service Sued over New No-Cash Policy at National
       Parks
        
       Author : LinuxBender
       Score  : 12 points
       Date   : 2024-03-21 21:23 UTC (1 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (cowboystatedaily.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (cowboystatedaily.com)
        
       | marssaxman wrote:
       | I hope the suit wins. It's bad enough that Visa and Mastercard
       | get to act as gatekeepers for so much of the economy already -
       | they certainly should not be in control of entrance to the
       | national parks.
        
         | DannyBee wrote:
         | It won't. They only have to accept cash for debts already
         | incurred.
        
           | buffington wrote:
           | I wonder if a fine for not paying an entry fee counts as a
           | debt...
        
             | toomuchtodo wrote:
             | Sounds like buying a pass ahead of time online and printing
             | a barcode to present.
        
       | kyboren wrote:
       | Publicly-funded infrastructure must accept public money.
       | 
       | This increasing trend towards exclusively accepting electronic
       | payment with private money:
       | 
       | - unjustly enriches the payments cartel
       | 
       | - excludes unbanked people, privacy-conscious people, and
       | conscientious objectors from the fractional reserve banking scam
       | --all of whom ought to have equal access to public infrastructure
       | 
       | - presents unnecessary resiliency and national security risks--if
       | the payments system goes down, no payments can be made
       | 
       | On a related note, this trend is particularly acute in the EV
       | charger space. Whereas every gas station accepts cash,
       | practically no EV charging station accepts cash. This will have
       | the same effects on EV ownership and mobility as I listed above.
       | And in addition, undocumented people will face serious risks
       | charging their EV at a public charging station once ICE catches
       | on.
       | 
       | It's a huge and definitely under-reported shift in our societal
       | status quo, especially given the contemporary hyper-focus on
       | underprivileged groups, equity, and inclusion.
        
       | DannyBee wrote:
       | This lawsuit will be dismissed quickly. Legal tender does not
       | mean what they think it does.
        
       | sneak wrote:
       | The problem with card-only payments is that every card swipe
       | discloses your location to dozens of third parties and creates a
       | timestamped tracklog.
       | 
       | The park doesn't require your identity to enter; everyone who can
       | pay is allowed to enter without identifying themselves.
       | 
       | Payment cards are strong identity, thereby deanonymizing park
       | visitors.
        
       | sneak wrote:
       | This is a growing trend at airports and elsewhere, too.
       | Thankfully many cities like NYC have passed laws making it
       | illegal to not accept cash; a federal law to do the same would be
       | welcome.
       | 
       | I'm very glad to see people keeping the federal government
       | accountable when it comes to these privacy-destroying,
       | exclusionary policy decisions.
        
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       (page generated 2024-03-21 23:02 UTC)