A fight is brewing in South Florida over personal information, data privacy, and online food delivery. In June, the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners drafted an ordinance which applies a number of new regulations and penalties to the relationship between restaurants, food delivery companies like DoorDash and Uber Eats, and customers.
Most notably, the new rule requires platforms to share user data to restaurants “including, but not limited to, the contact information of the customer.” Fines included in the ordinance are up to $10,000 daily or $10,000 for each violation. In addition to the requirements on disseminating customer information, delivery companies will also be required to acquire written consent from restaurants before listing or promoting them.
Miami-Dade Commissioners claim that the new laws are meant to protect consumers and help businesses better serve their customers. Despite the Commission’s intentions, many residents of the county have expressed opposition to the forced dispersal of private information. Food delivery platforms are spreading the word about the possible new requirements via their apps to alert customers that they may soon be forced to give user information to any establishment from which they order.
Data privacy is increasingly on taxpayer’s minds and this ordinance might even conflict with other Florida laws. Data leaks and hacking are an omnipresent threat. Customers are rightfully wary of providing data which can easily be stolen and sold and forcing small businesses to house data they would rather not possess. Miami-Dade Commissioners would be right to walk back this attempt at broader “transparency” to better protect the personal data of their citizens.