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  1. Thanks for the article on the Vienna Culture Token program. I found the author (who lives in London, not Vienna) paints a too rosy picture of the program.

    I live in Vienna and just got my first transit card less than two weeks ago. The Vienna public transit network is indeed fantastic (and includes beautiful Art Nouveau Stadtbahn stations designed by architect Otto Wagner). The card comes with a brochure with twenty or so coupons. The first four coupons were all for car rentals. There were three for museums and two for performances. All the coupons grant discounts – nothing is free.

    The Culture Token program sparked my interest when I read about it in the newspaper, but it soon became clear this was not an option for me, first because I don’t have a smart phone and second because I value my privacy. How can a program that tracks users’ movements via an app on their smart phone (and do I even need to add: sells that data) be viewed as one that rewards users with “free” access?

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