It's obvious they know what you look like if you use those machines, and who you are too if you use a credit card. Same with mail & ride, I suppose, but that I know nothing of because I don't go to LI and I don't pay attention to Metro North. They obviously need an address, do they insist on a name? Besides, if you use a money order it doesn't matter what name you give them. Bodegas are still the best bet though. For maximum obfuscation you'd probably want to buy several cards from various places over the five boroughs and use them in odd orders. Of course doing that you'd lose your transfers though.
Many booths do have cameras, they started putting them in when they had all those lighter fluid attacks years ago. I bet the ones that don't have cameras are the ones they plan on closing first, like the ones in Bushwick and other tourist not-spots. Soon all stations are going to have CCTV and 'emergency call-back buttons' after they shut down all of the token booths. There are some hidden cameras on the platforms, but not many AFAIK. I've never even found any. There are some there, though, they were originally installed to counter turnstile jumping and metrocard fraud. (IOW, to get more money, not to reduce violent crimes, huge surprise.) Those new trains (R142, R142A, R143) on the #2,5,6 lines have cameras inside, and soon all of the Redbirds will be gone, replaced by these new ones, which although CCTV'd, are a really nice ride. I wonder if they'll retrofit those 80's cars. The whole system is due for an upgrade, probably with some fed 'anti-terror' funds, if NY ever gets any, and if Pataki even spends any of it on the MTA. NYPD chief Kelly must be so envious of that DC surveillance network, just itching for his own. Granted there are already cameras all over the city, NYC still doesn't have quite the 'nerve center' DC does. Nice NY surveillance camera site: http://www.mediaeater.com/cameras/networks.html The fun people have with those cameras: http://www.notbored.org/the-scp.html -- stuart There ought to be limits to freedom. George W. Bush On Monday, March 17, 2003, Sunder came up with this... S> If you don't buy your Metrocard with cash, they have records of who you S> are. It's basically an ATM that takes ATM cards, credit cards (and some S> take cash also.) If you pay the machine by cash, you can be sure your S> face is linked to your Metrocard - since it's an ATM, they have to record S> who uses it. S> If you've signed up for the Mail & Ride thing for the LIRR, they've got S> your metrocard linked already. S> Not sure about the booths, wouldn't surprise me though. You can still buy S> preset cards from newsstands - YMMV. S> Also, don't forget that each metrocard has it's own serial number. If S> you're not just a casual user, they can figure out around where you live S> because you use it twice. Once from home, once from work. Further, if S> you take them up on their offer to refresh the amount there - which they S> try to get you to do by making it so you always have a few extra cents S> left over on the card, there's another chance you might just use a credit S> card, etc... S> If there are cameras near the turnstyles, it's easy to spot who swiped S> which card and where they go based on timestamps. Of course face->>card links aren't card->identity links, but if you're S> wanted, they're more than good enough.
