There are objects that have changed our daily life. The most recent of them is no doubt what’s known in France as the “carte à puce”, the credit card with a micro chip carrying a vast amount of electronic information. What seems like progress can be a threat to individual freedom. The inventor of the card with the chip, Roland Moreno, offers the solution to avoid ‘big brother’ type misuse: the electronic purse, rechargeable and anonymous. His idea raises economical and security concerns. It would be up to the individual to watch out that the electronic purse does not turn into a “spy in the pocket”.