Tuesday, December 8, 2020

Another Step Toward Cashless, Because Corona - EPautos - by eric (Text only)

It’ll be very convenient – the carrot used to draw the donkeys forward, before bashing them on the head with the stick – which will be the freedom (and anonymity) they surrendered for the sake of the “convenience.”

(And DaDonks will love it - in fact, they'll bash the non-compliant donks - all for DaGreaterGood! - CL) 

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It’s a wonder the Gesundheitsfuhrers didn’t shut down gas stations given that people touch the pump handles and the cases! the cases!

Well, that’s coming – even though people will still be touching the pumps. But they won’t be touching money – especially cash money. Instead, the “money” will be automatically extracted from their electronic wallet via something called PayByCar.

The idea is for “contactless” transactions – to “stop the spread” of WuFlu.

How that works when people will still handle the pumps is difficult to understand. What’s easy to understand is that “contactless” means cash-less, which also means – if this system ever became default – that it may become very hard to buy gas with cash or even a credit card. Instead, you’d pay via an “app” on your phone – and a bug buried in your car, as PayByCar envisions.

This company – which is a “provider of in-vehicle payment solutions” – has “partnered” with big-time OEM supplier Gentex Corp to introduce something called the Integrated Toll Module, which works like it sounds. A device is integrated with the vehicle that knows (via RFID chipping) where the car is in relation to gas stations (as well as other things). It then sends a text to the driver, whose identity is paired to the car – who texts back the station pump number and the system obligingly turns on the pump and debits the cost of the fill-up from the person’s account.

Other costs could be — and surely will be – debited as well. Because of the “interest in new revenue streams,” that the parties involved expect to cash in on.

By eliminating cash.

For instance, by electronically debiting the driver for using a road at a given time; i.e., congestion pricing – made automatic and so unavoidable, if your car has the integrated module. It knows where you’re driving and when you’re driving – and makes change.

And tax-by-mile, something already being “pilot programmed” in several states as a way to mulct drivers for avoiding motor fuels taxes by driving electric cars or paying lower motor fuels taxes by driving more fuel-efficient cars.

There are all kinds of possibilities.

One could even imagine the ITM tied into one’s social credit standing; if you don’t wear your Face Diaper or aren’t up-to-date on your vaccinations, you get dunned if you drive.

Gentex has the following mission statement on its web page:

“(We) offer multiple, scalable connected car technologies that allow the vehicle to talk to the home, surrounding infrastructure and more. Our car-to-home automation technology allows you to operate all your home automation devices with a simple vehicle-integrated button push. Our V2i platform lets your car pay for toll road usage. And, it can be all be secured with our biometric system – a vehicle integrated iris-scanning feature that enhances cyber security and allows for unprecedented levels of vehicle personalization.”

Italics added.

Your car will know you. Or rather, those who control your car will know all about you. Not just where you drive but how you live, in your home – everywhere.

But whatever happened to “stopping the spread”?

Never mind.

“It’s about leveraging and expanding the use of the Integrated Toll Module,” admits Craig Piersma, marketing director for Gentex. “We’re being a little more aggressive and opportunistic on technologies that would mesh with ours and expand our capabilities,” Piersma told the industry trade publication Automotive News.

“It’s still ultimately about putting some hardware in the car for us. We have that real estate in the mirror location.”

Piersma refers to the “smart” rearview mirrors  Gentex supplies to the car industry, to the tune of almost $2 billion annually. Most cars made since the early 2000s have these mirrors, which include much more than just a rearview mirror. Many also house the integrated garage door opener controls and the “concierge” buttons – e.g., OnStar and similar – drivers use to summon roadside assistance and so on. 

These may soon house your ITM as well.

It’ll be very convenient – the carrot used to draw the donkeys forward, before bashing them on the head with the stick – which will be the freedom (and anonymity) they surrendered for the sake of the “convenience.”

As has been done using the smartphone. So easy to text – so easy to track. The two bundled unavoidably together. You can’t have the one without the other.

And now, you’ll have more.

Or rather, less.

. . .

Got a question about cars, Libertarian politics – or anything else? Click on the “ask Eric” link and send ’em in!

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https://www.ericpetersautos.com/2020/12/06/another-step-toward-cashless-because-corona/