Boris Groendahl for Bloomberg reports, Austrians should have the constitutional right to use cash to protect their privacy, Deputy Economy Minister Harald Mahrer said, as the European Union considers curbing the use of banknotes and coins.

"We don't want someone to be able to track digitally what we buy, eat and drink, what books we read and what movies we watch," Mahrer said on Austrian public radio station Oe1. "We will fight everywhere against rules" including caps on cash purchases, he said.