Food delivery company DoorDash has filed a new lawsuit against New York City, calling for a new law requiring delivery companies to share customer data with restaurants as “a shocking and invasive intrusion of consumer privacy “.
Under the law passed in July, third-party food delivery services in the city should share customers ’names, phone numbers, emails, and delivery addresses with a restaurant that fulfills a DoorDash order. unless the customer chooses. In its complaint, DoorDash argues that customers entrust DoorDash with confidential data, “which they will not entrust to small businesses that do not have a similar data security and safety protocol.”
The company added that face-to-face diners do not usually expect to disclose sensitive personal information in restaurants. “In addition, the presumption of the ordinance that all customers consent to share their personal data (unless they opt specifically for ordering) flies in the face of current privacy best practices,” the lawsuit states. And there are no guarantees that restaurants can store customer data in a way that complies with privacy laws and prevents unauthorized access, DoorDash argues.
New York City Councilor Keith Powers introduced the legislation earlier this year. “After such a devastating year for our city’s restaurant industry, this precedent-setting law provides much-needed relief to restaurants for better access to customer data and provides strong privacy protection “, Powers wrote in an email to The Verge. “Restaurants are the lifeblood of New York City’s economy and culture, and I’m proud that the City Council has been with our local New York City establishments and diners. I encourage DoorDash to withdraw this lawsuit immediately. ”
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) wrote in a July letter to New York City Council that it “sympathizes[d] with the aim of establishing more equitable conditions of play for all companies, especially after the year we have faced, “but who opposed the measure:” privacy should be the default value of any transaction and consumers should be asked to choose to share their information each time it could be transferred to a new entity “.
In addition, according to the EFF, the ordinance “sets a mature target for hackers and data thieves who want to exploit [the customers’] information.
Restaurants that relied on deliveries to stay open during the pandemic last year have become entangled with online delivery platforms like DoorDash over some of their business practices. A pizzeria owner who bought his own inventory from DoorDash with profits last year highlighted how delivery companies seemed willing to waste money on deliveries to add more restaurants to their ecosystems. DoorDash’s rival, Grubhub, has been caught making websites that impersonated restaurants and listed restaurants on its platform without their knowledge or permission.
Last week, DoorDash, Grubhub and Uber Eats filed a lawsuit against New York City over another new law that limits the amount of fees delivery companies can charge restaurants. The city set a time limit on shipping costs last June, restricting the delivery platform to a maximum rate of 23% per order, which is broken down into 15% for shipping, 5% for have the restaurant on your application and 3% for credit. card processing costs. Platforms have been accused of adding other unclear rates to their shipping costs.
In the lawsuit it filed Wednesday, DoorDash is seeking a court order to enforce the new rule on customer data, unspecified monetary damages and a jury trial. The law is currently due to come into force in December, and prohibits any legal action.
Updated on September 15 at 1:41 PM ET: Added statement by Keith Powers.