The View | A cashless society would destroy our privacy and freedom

The real technology threat is here and now. No, it’s not depicted in Ridley Scott’s dystopian film Blade Runner. Big data fed by e-commerce platforms, particularly in China, are rapidly propelling us towards a world where an individual’s purchasing power, and their value to the consumer system, can be determined by his or her demographics, online behaviour and choices.

Imagine that the entirety of your personal data, not your money, will authoritatively determine what you can and cannot possess in the present and future. It’s like a Philip Dick science fiction story where factories intuitively deliver goods and services to your home without the need for you to actually click through an online order.

However, making Hong Kong people acquiesce to a cashless economy or a digital currency won’t be as easy as technologists and government regulators think. Hongkongers have always jealously guarded their privacy, especially their personal business affairs. Long before China became an economic powerhouse, when Hong Kong was the centre of Chinese capitalism, it epitomised the secretive cash transaction culture.

Mainlanders have fully embraced digital, cashless transactions, but I can’t help but think they are gullible and naive as they readily surrender privacy for convenience. Smartphones allow for an unprecedented level of mobile data gathering.

Then, mainland Chinese have only known and lived under a one-party state government and authoritarian-style state. Privacy has never been an important part of their daily life or culture. The population has never experienced self-governance, as only Party members can vote for Party leaders.

You certainly won’t understand how mobile payment in China feels until you actually try it. I was shopping at a Guangzhou grocery store when the cashier held up a scanner ready to scan my QR code. When I told her I was paying with cash, she was rather surprised that someone was still using notes and coins. There are signs in shops in China that say: we do not accept cash.

But there is a sinister, deep state motive to lure people into giving up cash. A cashless economy allows the government to fully control your holdings at banks. So authorities can charge negative rates, as in Japan, where they can literally deduct or charge fees from accounts without legal recourse.