A mystery restaurant in the U.S. has recently leaked some of their guests’ notes and dining preferences.
Many restaurants use a digital POS system to make efficient table reservations and importantly to make notes about their guests. The restaurant in question is one where many A-list celebrities reportedly dine at, and you’d have thought that information about them would be kept secure given the nature of their clientele.
Apparently, this was not the case. Hannah Goldfield, an author for The New Yorker, was reportedly sent a spreadsheet from the restaurant in error containing around 30,000 entries about guests.
Ms Goldfield confirmed the leak by revealing her discovery on Twitter:
“…soothing my anxiety by slowly savouring this spreadsheet of notes on customers that a restaurant accidentally attached to an email blast.”
Some of the A-list celebrities reportedly included Ryan Seacrest, Fran Drescher, Gillian Anderson, Meryl Streep’s nephew, Danielle Steel’s daughter, an accountant for Ricky (from Ricky’s), and a production assistant who “thinks he is more important than he really is.”
The spreadsheet also referred to an 86’d list. 86’d was code for guests who created trouble for the restaurant and consequently were not welcomed back with open arms.
Some of these notes read:
- “86’d – tore part of couch off on tbl 21.”
- “Left 11.00 on a $200 check. 86.”
- “After getting drunk, they threw glasses at the bartenders. 86 86 86 86 86 86 86 86.”
- “Do not book for him ever again – 86! Had dinner on 5/5/14, didn’t pay and was impossible to reach until we had a detective call him.”
Although some have found it interesting to read about the reported habits of “A-listers” dining at the restaurant, others would argue that their rights to privacy have been infringed.
In the U.S., privacy laws can be a little more complex than in the U.K. as they can differ from state to state. Unfortunately, there doesn’t appear to be one single and comprehensive national law that regulates the collection and use of personal data. With this in mind, there is room for contradiction.
This is certainly one of the more unusual stories we have come across!