Many thanks for sharing, Bernard. I had a different take on this a while back:
http://iRevolution.net/2011/05/03/mobile-banking-and-dictators-dilemma But you definitely raise some important points, which are making me revisit the hypothesis I put forward. On Wed, Oct 31, 2012 at 7:05 PM, Bernard Tyers - ei8fdb <ei8...@ei8fdb.org>wrote: > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > Hash: SHA1 > > I attended a talk recently in London titled "(Mobile) Money Makes the > World Go Around". [1] > > It was attended by people involved in mobile money (M-Pesa, mobile > operators, finance companies, and billing backend people). The conversation > was about how wonderful M-Pesa and such services (they are, in certain > ways), and the different business factors that are at play in the mobile > money industry. > > I asked a question about privacy and anonymity in the use of mobile money > services. I was a little shocked (I expected the answer, but not so > bluntly) when a representative from M-Pesa said "You can forget it frankly. > If you are making an electronic payment, somebody somewhere wants to know > you are not money laundering. Arguably we don't have any privacy anyway." > [2] > > And then I thought: what a wonderful way to keep control of a group of > people - state run mobile operator who implements a compulsory mobile money > service for the population. You have an electronic device in everyones > pocket, which can be located to (depending on cell density) down to 50m > approx, with an MSISDN (telephone number) tied to bank account details. > > To the "outside world" you look forward thinking, progressive and > technological progressive. > > Is it necessary to go to that length? Too much money? Is the front needed? > > Bernard > > [1] http://mobileheroes.net/ > [2] http://soundcloud.com/heroes-of-mobile/mobile-money-makes-the-world > > - -------------------------------------- > Bernard / bluboxthief / ei8fdb > > IO91XM / www.ei8fdb.org > > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- > Version: GnuPG/MacGPG2 v2.0.17 (Darwin) > Comment: GPGTools - http://gpgtools.org > > iQEcBAEBAgAGBQJQka7QAAoJENsz1IO7MIrrl18H/jBAuQx8fEGscJLK1L0coNb+ > 8z/kCh62PdaNxGuRadudojYDE2sqpUL16DAHBqinQisJITCsY32OAmcwORS48YJF > aWcWTP0sAhBKBeXImWseLzfuH2iHpB25t3/Ele8h6TR/4mWaUJrhvCnAz2Bw+IIM > 7UtsQjD8KXybuni5QLbBtLA3naSvmixd0TbvEwD5ty8Dec9P8jVcchfpWeWh4xwU > mC3pRHee9p248n+aRbY8tF3GHRfw3S85ApJQICUv+bUFbPOP8bV2q+sF4sVnMq+I > TW3OGzIkkAimkmOdLVwlqUWfGB5ZCmcTPkaxc+euqu0lBKRzGXeFUlwo9jQp9gQ= > =hTKA > -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- > -- > Unsubscribe, change to digest, or change password at: > https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech >
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