What Can Marketers Learn from COVID-19 Privacy Considerations?

Contact-tracing during COVID-19 raises data privacy implications for restaurants. It cannot be argued that COVID-19 is anything but a gut-punch to the restaurant industry. Projections for business sustainability are low and prospects grow bleaker each day that restaurants go without patrons who stay away due to mixed messages about safety. As restaurants struggle to survive, they face another hurdle in protecting and maintaining data privacy of customers in the context of required state or municipal contact-tracing rules. Generally, contract-tracing requirements are a component of hastily implemented patchwork regulations designed to limit the progress of the virus. In implementation, the data necessary for contact tracing implicates privacy concerns that many businesses are not prepared to manage during a time when enterprises are stretched to the maximum.  

As businesses reopen or increase capacity, some jurisdictions have encouraged restaurants to maintain contact lists of all…