>In London alone, it is not possible to pay for public transport with cash and a card is required. Their reasons for doing this because it "benefits criminals" is echoing the "ban encryption" nonsense.
Not strictly true. You can buy an oyster card with cash, you can load it with cash and use that. After a weeks worth of journeys you can return it and get your £5 deposit back and buy another one.
Not exactly perfect but it's essentially the same as having a burner phone.
although you anonymously purchase the oyster card, you can be de-anonymized the moment you scan the card, as face recognition links you with that card.
Sure, but the link to an ephemeral Oyster card doesn't give them anything that the face recognition doesn't give them already. If they can track faces, then they can track journeys even if you're paying in cash directly for every ticket.
you may slip up, or the system can always flag the id card if they're unable to make an automatic link to a card bought with cash, causing a human operator to get involved. If they see that you block your face everytime, they then can activate and access the total surveillance resources and flag the card.
Not strictly true. You can buy an oyster card with cash, you can load it with cash and use that. After a weeks worth of journeys you can return it and get your £5 deposit back and buy another one.
Not exactly perfect but it's essentially the same as having a burner phone.