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There is usually never a line at the train ticketing machines. Judging from an overheard convo, it appears that people are reluctant to use their rechargeable Octopus cards for fear of leaving a paper trail of them having been present at the protest. 
"We're afraid of having our data tracked," one female protester told me.
She said that this ticket-buying was't as prevalent during the 2014 Umbrella Movement. Five years on, however, people are more wary & aware.
She said that this ticket-buying was't as prevalent during the 2014 Umbrella Movement. Five years on, however, people are more wary & aware.
This raises a lot of interesting questions about cash vs. cashless societies, and how in times of protest people may drastically adjust their usual economic behaviour.
For additional context, since this photo doesn't show the whole scene: the line at every ticket machine stretched back 10+ meters.
Using data from cashless, prepaid Octopus cards to track down suspects is not new.
As early as 2010, HK police used such data to trace a murder suspect, as seen in this China Daily story chinadaily.com.cn/hkedition/2011…
As early as 2010, HK police used such data to trace a murder suspect, as seen in this China Daily story chinadaily.com.cn/hkedition/2011…
In this mentioned case above, it was not murder, but an acid attack.
And tracking data on metro/transit cards is not just done in Hong Kong or China. Way back in 2001, US authorities used MetroCard data to trace, arrest, and indict a murder suspect. wired.com/2001/12/survei…
Prosecutors said this marked the first murder case where a MetroCard was key evidence, according to this New York Post story nypost.com/2002/06/01/met…\
Here is the full write-up: qz.com/1642441/extrad…
