FLATBUSH— Two masked individuals used a drill and physically smashed seven subway fare readers in Brooklyn, then distributed leaflets criticizing OMNY of surveillance and profiting from military contracts.
In an apparent political protest against the company behind New York City's tap-to-pay transit system, the pair urged rides to avoid paying for fares.
One leaflet warns riders, "You are being watched," and claims the OMNY payment system can collect personal information, including names, ages and photographs.
A transit worker discovered the damaged readers at the Church Avenue station serving the B and Q trains in Flatbush before 11:30 a.m. last Wednesday, according to the NYPD.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which operates the city's subway system, quickly replaced the damaged readers, an agency spokesman told the Daily News.
The seven readers cost $18,851 to replace, according to police.
OMNY allows riders to pay subway and bus fares by tapping a smartphone, smartwatch, contactless bank card or OMNY card against a reader.
The system fully replaced the MetroCard late last year.
OMNY's privacy policy identifies photographs and other identifying details as personal information riders may provide when accessing or using the service, though it does not elaborate on how the system handles photographs.
A second leaflet calls Cubic, the San Diego-based company that operates OMNY, a "war profiteer" and accuses the firm of doing business with the Israeli military.
A 2019 report by the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project warned that OMNY's contactless payment system could allow the MTA and its contractor, Cubic, to track riders' movements by linking payment records to the time and location of each fare transaction.
The report also raised concerns about data retention, third-party access and potential sharing with law enforcement, warning that the system could create "unprecedented surveillance capacity."
Police have made no arrests, and the investigation remains ongoing.
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