Washington Restaurants Will Track Diners’ Info Gov. Says

Washington Restaurants Will Need to Track Diners’ Info As Part of Reopening Requirements

On Monday night, Gov. Jay Inslee released a list of detailed guidelines that restaurants must adopt before resuming dine-in services during “phase two” of Washington’s reopening plan during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As announced previously, dining rooms can reopen at 50 percent capacity in this phase, with no more than five people at a table. But now there are several other strict requirements, including eliminating bar seating, distributing single-use menus, and logging diners’ personal info to facilitate contact tracing, a rigorous method of tracking and monitoring those who may have been exposed to the novel coronavirus.

That last requirement is one that perhaps may generate the most discussion. According to the state’s phase two playbook, restaurants that offer table service must plan to keep a daily log of phone numbers, emails, and arrival times for everybody who comes in to eat. Diners are already used to giving restaurants such details to make a reservation, but Washington’s rules state that all customers must be logged, not just one per party.

It’s also unclear how exactly the information will be handled, distributed, or purged when not needed anymore. But on Tuesday, Inslee held a press conference detailing the state’s robust contact tracing plan, which he said would be key to mitigating the spread of COVID-19 — and addressed some concerns over privacy. He said that Washington would have the legal authority to prevent any data collected from restaurants for being used for purposes other than contact tracing (such as advertisements -- Watch live at https://www.twitch.tv/werenotsorry