On both sides of the Atlantic, the authorities and private businesses alike are using the excuse of rising crime to push even harder toward the big-picture goal: even more mass surveillance.
An obvious component of this, though not as visible as a CCTV camera, is the move toward what’s known as a cashless society. The “problem” with cash is that it’s very difficult to track and use to gather large amounts of data regarding the financial transactions of an individual, their movements, and habits.
