OK, where is the ACLU when you really need them? This is freaking ridiculous. The government in New York City has enforcing on restaurants some of the harshest laws regarding dietary content and labeling on menus and what restaurants can serve of any local government in the nation. They have outlawed the use of cooking oils containing trans fat and have put an onerous requirement for calorie and nutrition labeling on menus.
Now, supposedly in order to monitor the effectiveness of the ‘program’ they are collecting the receipts of diners to ‘study’ their dining habits with the hope of influencing and changing the diners’ behavior to healthier habits. This is big brother gone wild. As much as I think lawyers are a big problem and that suing is not normally the answer, I think there needs to be a class action suit against these food Nazis. What do you think?
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I promised a buddy to avoid using this phrase, but how Orwellian of NYC.
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.