I agree that there is something inherently wrong with the city of NY participating in this type of data collection. Not to add insult to injury; but, perhaps the the BIG Apple should engage in profit sharing regarding this information. Who determines what company receives the contract to process, analyze, and collect the data in the first place? How involved are the customers in that decision-making process? I think the bigger question is whether or not customers were made aware of this, whether they have a legal right to be, and whether restaurants or consumers have the right to opt-out of this subterranean guerrilla marketing strategy!

That being said, it’s quite a genius move on the city’s behalf if they’re able to get away with this.