Privacy watchdog warns pubgoers about handing over data to venues

The Information Commissioner’s Office has said that venues should only ask for ‘relevant and necessary’ data

Apps for food and drinks orders in restaurants and pubs have become increasingly popular during the pandemic (Getty Images)

Customers ought to think twice before handing over personal data when ordering food and drinks via their mobile phones, suggests the UK’s body overseeing data privacy.

Since the start of the pandemic, app-based and online food offering has become more and more common.

However, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has said that customers should be wary that they do have a choice about whether or not to share information with venues. They also pointed out that venues should only ask for data that is “relevant and necessary.”

“I think it’s too easy to upload an app and straight away put your name, email address, payment details in, without actually understanding fully where that information may be shared and why it’s being used,” Suzanne Gordon, director of data protection at the ICO, told the BBC.

“Ultimately this is your data, it’s your personal information and you need to be confident when you’re handing it over and the reasons why.”

Ordering food and drinks online has become popular both with customers and businesses, for the speed and ease of ordering apps and online orders offer.

It has also helped to reduce the risk of Covid transmission and provides venues with an additional way to interact with customers.

Apps now handle millions of pounds worth of transactions each day and look as if they are here to stay, even though in England, Scotland and Wales restaurants and bars have now been allowed to resume pre-pandemic style service.

The ICO, however, was keen to state how the sharing of personal data is not compulsory.

“Customers need to understand they do have a choice. We’re now coming out of the pandemic and there’s the ability to order on the app or in the more traditional way,” said Ms Gordon.

She added: “I think it is very easy for people just to see the end product, and because they want that, they really don’t question the amount of data that they are being asked for.”

The UK’s four biggest pub chains, Wetherspoons, Greene King, Mitchells and Butlers and Stonegate, all now provide customers with their own in-house apps.

Those behind the development of apps such as these, say that they have seen a huge growth in their popularity during the pandemic.

Customers are informed of their rights and how their data will be dealt with, but with few people reading the terms and conditions in full, there are concerns that people do not question the amount of data they are sharing.