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  • From: "Lynda" <lurine AT softcom.net>
  • To: <bobford79 AT yahoo.com>, <homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Homestead] SE PA going to identifiable non-cash smart cardsfortransportation
  • Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 10:17:35 -0800

There was a big warning on the news last week about those cards. If the folks whose names are on them are any of the companies that are or might go bankrupt, the cards are worthless. Anyone buying them needs to be VERY sure that the company behind them is very financially secure!

Lynda
----- Original Message ----- From: "bob ford" <bobford79 AT yahoo.com>


good am lynn. I noticed a whole rack of those prepaid visa gift cards at the grocery yesterday. Whether it is a $25 dollar card or a $50 or $100 card they all charged a $4.95 transaction fee, plus $2.00 month service fee (after beginning period , which can vary). I have read , and I think posted, that right now, $200 is the largest amount allowed. Those are loan shark terms

Oh, and by the way, they are not and 'do not' function as crdit cards, no matter how they are advertised. They function only as debit cards. Paypal and other such places will not accept 'prepaid' non-identifiable debit cards. That is a new policy within the past year, more p*triot a*t crap.

Walgreens had the largest brand (I've onlty read about them) of prepaid anonymous visa cards (Green dot). Now, you have to be identifiable to load the cards, and I've read that tyhere are many problems using the cards and having them accepted. The numbers on the cards indentify them as "prepaid". Many large entities will not accept "prepaid" debit cards.

You can 'not' go to a doctor and pay cash without giving your ss# and being looked up in the computer. I talked to my docotr about this. She will accept cash, but you have to be identified , in the 'system'.

I might be a bit paranoid in the view of some, but almost everything you do, now, is being recorded, and can be traced. I went to a place of business a couple of weeks ago, I won't name the place but it is a place where transactions can be large. They no longer accept cash. Not at all. Too much trouble and so few people use cash anymore. Plus, they have to report cash transactions.

A twenty-one year cop with much less education than you can find out everything you do and buy. A gov't cvlerk can find your life history (look at what happened to 'Joe the plumber" -- 'He' doesn't matter. What happened to him, for simply asking a question, is horrific, and no one seems to think it is a big deal. You don't think for a few hundred dollars, someone couldn't hire one of those firms that links to all the databases and find out everything about you?

The typical answer is "well, my life is boring, why would anyone care". The problem is information is power, today. Information can be used to control. It is very upsetting to me that large numbers of people care not that their privacy is not just being diminshed, it is disappearing. I'll keeo posting aabout it, maybe there will be one or two people who will think about it, tell there teenagers about it, so tht they can try their best not to leave a constant trail, a permanent record of their every movenment. Their life or my life is 'not' anyone else's busines, not without pre-approval.

I hope your garden is doing well. If it is in the 40's where bev lives, you are probably already close to freezing. Brrrrrrr ...............bobford


------------------------------------------------------------------------


--- On Mon, 11/17/08, Lynn Wigglesworth <lynnw1366 AT hotmail.com> wrote:

From: Lynn Wigglesworth <lynnw1366 AT hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Homestead] SE PA going to identifiable non-cash smart cards fortransportation
To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
Date: Monday, November 17, 2008, 5:20 AM
You can buy a Visa Gift Card almost anywhere. It's
pre-loaded with money and
doesn't require an ID. Couldn't it be used in the
kiosks to buy a smart
card? It's a stupid way to have to go about it, but it
would let you remain
anonymous. It's funny; the rest of the world is getting
more plastic, and
I'm trying to stop using credit cards and go back to
all cash...cash is
still the norm here, especially in one-to-one deals (hay,
firewood, etc.)
since so many people work under the table and don't
want the money
traceable.

Lynn Wigglesworth
----- Original Message ----- From: "bob ford" <bobford79 AT yahoo.com>
To: "Lynn Wigglesworth"
<lynnw1366 AT hotmail.com>;
<homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Sunday, November 16, 2008 4:37 PM
Subject: Re: [Homestead] SE PA going to identifiable
non-cash smart cards
fortransportation


> This is a 'different' smart card. It is not
the same as buying smart
> cards for train or bus in Phoenix, Philly, etc. PA
already has the old
> form of smart card. The person who submitted this
link was from PA. This
> system is based on the UK system.
>
> Your phone, CC, smart card, etc, to pay for fare,
must be able to
> identify you. You can not buy a smart card in UK for
cash with no id.
> Same is available with these new systems. Part of the
patr iot a*t crap
> gives them the excuse to know who goes where and when.
>
> Amtrak no longer allows cash anonymous ticket
purchaess . Try to buy a
> plane ticket today, with cash and no ID. This is not
the old bus-pass
> smart card. It will be here, too. That article just
happened to be in
> PA............bobford
>
>
>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
> --- On Sun, 11/16/08, Lynn Wigglesworth
<lynnw1366 AT hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>> From: Lynn Wigglesworth
<lynnw1366 AT hotmail.com>
>> Subject: Re: [Homestead] SE PA going to
identifiable non-cash smart cards
>> fortransportation
>> To: bobford79 AT yahoo.com,
homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
>> Date: Sunday, November 16, 2008, 2:26 PM
>> NYC and DC have used the 'smart cards' for
their
>> transit systems for years. They have vending
machines that
>> take credit cards or cash.
>>
>> Lynn Wigglesworth
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "bob
ford"
>> <bobford79 AT yahoo.com>
>> To: <homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org>
>> Sent: Sunday, November 16, 2008 3:47 PM
>> Subject: [Homestead] SE PA going to identifiable
non-cash
>> smart cards fortransportation
>>
>>
>> > This started in Britain a couple of years
ago, now,
>> tokyo, and moving into american cities, like here
in SE PA
>> taking bids to implement. PA is begging for
bailout money
>> (like my hometown) but has the money to implement
these
>> cities to further erode our privacy.
>> >
>> > It sounds innocuos enough on its face. But,
The end
>> result is the ability of gov't or corporate
(both
>> really, they are now so incestuous) to track and
record your
>> every move. Where these have been in place for a
while,
>> there is no anonymity. You cannot buy one with
cash. You
>> must use payment form that identifies who you are.
>> >
>> >
>>
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> >
>> > Pennsylvania
>> >
>> >
>> > Posted on Tue, Nov. 11, 2008
>> >
>> >
>> > SEPTA puts out call for "smart
card"
>> proposals
>> > By Paul Nussbaum
>> >
>> > Inquirer Staff Writer
>> >
>> > SEPTA has issued its long-awaited call for
bids on an
>> ambitious new electronic "smart card"
>> fare-collection system, with plans to award a
contract in
>> the spring.
>> > The system will replace the tokens, tickets
and
>> magnetic-stripe cards that passengers use on
buses, subways,
>> trains and trolleys.
>> >
>> > SEPTA's request for proposals, issued
Friday, is
>> intentionally vague, leaving many specifics of how
the
>> system will work up to the companies that offer to
build it.
>> But the agency said it wanted a system that will
allow
>> passengers to use credit cards, prepaid SEPTA
cards, even
>> cell-phones to pay for their trips.
>> >
>> > With a "smart card," passengers
will be able
>> to wave a card at a sensor on a turnstile or fare
box and be
>> on their way.
>> >
>> > It will be several years before a new system
can be
>> built and installed. Cost estimates have ranged as
high as
>> $100 million, although SEPTA urged bidders to
offer
>> innovative financing proposals, such as
public-private
>> partnerships, to reduce the cost to the agency.
>> >
>> > The biggest challenge may be designing a
system that
>> works well on Regional Rail, since rail passengers
do not
>> enter through a single gate or door.
>> >
>> > SEPTA told bidders they must come up with a
system
>> that addresses rail fare-collection "in a
>> customer-friendly manner."
>> >
>> > "SEPTA is really in uncharted territory
>> here," said Matthew Mitchell of the Delaware
Valley
>> Association of Rail Passengers, noting that other
transit
>> agencies have not devised a high-tech system to
collect rail
>> fares.
>> >
>> > Mitchell said "it is going to be very
hard to
>> improve on" the weekly and monthly passes
that most
>> regular rail commuters use. He said SEPTA should
install
>> simple vending machines at every rail station to
accept
>> credit-card payments.
>> >
>> > Another challenge will be to create a smart
card
>> compatible with those used by other transit
agencies. PATCO,
>> which operates commuter trains between
Philadelphia and
>> South Jersey, this year installed a smart-card
system, and
>> NJ Transit is in the early stages of designing
one.
>> >
>> > Mayor Nutter's transportation chief, Rina
Cutler,
>> has said compatibility should be a high priority
for
>> SEPTA's fare system, so passengers can use a
single card
>> for travel, and perhaps even parking, throughout
the region.
>> >
>> > The deadline for companies to submit
fare-collection
>> proposals to SEPTA is March 17. The agency hopes
to award a
>> contract by April, general manager Joseph Casey
said last
>> month.
>> >
>> >
>>
http://www.nfcnews.com/2008/11/11/septa-puts-out-call-for-smart-card-proposals
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
_______________________________________________
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>>
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>> >
>> >
>> >
>
>
>
>

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