2 weeks Ago By [email protected] (Tom Burnett)
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More info × Group 28 Thank you for subscribing! We have more newsletters Show Me No thanks, close See our Privacy Notice Almost 10,000 people have signed a petition calling for the government to make it illegal for businesses to refuse cash payments. A petition to Parliament is calling for a change in the law. The petition raises concerns that an event like the Carrington Event, a geomagnetic storm in 1859, that disrupted telegraph stations, could knock out digital infrastructure.
It also raises concerns about potential cyberattacks. Here in Cambridgeshire , the petition has been signed by 16 people in the Cambridge constituency and 13 in Peterborough . Elsewhere in the county it has been signed by seven in North West Cambridgeshire, 19 in North East Cambridgeshire, 13 in Ely and East Cambridgeshire, 13 in South Cambridgeshire, 12 in St Neots and Mid-Cambridgeshire and 13 in Huntingdon .
The petition, which can be viewed here , states: "We would like the Government to pass a law that requires the right to pay for goods and services with cash. This could include a legal framework that includes penalties for outlets that refuse cash payment and mandates the maintenance of local cash handling infrastructure by the banking sector. "We believe this is an urgent matter of national security.
It has been reported that both Sweden and Norway are reconsidering moving to a cashless society. We think the threat to a cashless society consists of total societal collapse arising from the collapse of digital payment networks or the underlying electrical power networks they depend on. "We believe that both systems could be vulnerable to cyber attacks by aggressors and solar storms of Carrington event magnitude.
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