> "social checking" via pre internet local newspapers and gossip circles
People back then could guess how some information about them "leaked" through gossip, and must have known about what's written in the paper about them. If someone found out that a restaurant has info about them that they thought is 100% private then they would find it creepy too.
Today information about people is stolen from people. Information people assume is 100% private, everything they do on the internet (and even many offline things) even without explicitly "posting" or talking about it ends up corelated by some data broker and sold to the least likeable parties. Having this kind of information even when obtained more legitimately just feels like spying to people and is creepy or repulsive by association.
For any restaurant most of this info is passed on by family to make the experience of the event (birthday, anniversary, etc.) more enjoyable. A regular customer celebrating something probably expects and enjoys some level of familiarity and won't ask too many questions or feel betrayed.
From the article, having a CRM, checking public social media, and getting info from the guests themselves is probably fine and even expected for all but a few exceptions.
People back then could guess how some information about them "leaked" through gossip, and must have known about what's written in the paper about them. If someone found out that a restaurant has info about them that they thought is 100% private then they would find it creepy too.
Today information about people is stolen from people. Information people assume is 100% private, everything they do on the internet (and even many offline things) even without explicitly "posting" or talking about it ends up corelated by some data broker and sold to the least likeable parties. Having this kind of information even when obtained more legitimately just feels like spying to people and is creepy or repulsive by association.
For any restaurant most of this info is passed on by family to make the experience of the event (birthday, anniversary, etc.) more enjoyable. A regular customer celebrating something probably expects and enjoys some level of familiarity and won't ask too many questions or feel betrayed.
From the article, having a CRM, checking public social media, and getting info from the guests themselves is probably fine and even expected for all but a few exceptions.