About a month ago, I got an email from Transport for London advising me that bus routes 50 and 255 are changing. Upon reading the message, I felt appreciation. Since I use one of those routes, I thought, “How nice of them to let me know!” But later, I started to wonder, “HOW THE HECK DID THEY KNOW?”

Well, I know I am receiving TfL updates via email because I registered my Oyster card when I got it. But with that message on the changes in the bus routes, I reckon that they have searched through all the records and filtered out those who travelled on the affected routes with registered Oyster cards.

It was somewhat scary thinking that the TfL has the ability to know our movements — where we frequently go and how do we get there. The worry, of course, is when that information is available to those who have bad intentions. On the other hand, this is a brilliant example of good customer service. See, having been told that the bus routes are changing, I won’t feel annoyed and frustrated when I go to a bus stop and find that my usual bus is no longer running that route. Imagine those who weren’t told, that must have been stressful especially on rush hours!

To me, I’d rather know that they are changing or have changed. I’ll take comfort in the fact that my tax money is paying to keep the information of my travel journeys secure and in the hands of people who doesn’t or won’t have ill feelings towards me. But who knows, eh? Even big brother can turn against you.