Netizens Worry That If Eateries Can Check Address, They Might Be Stalked

As you’re likely very aware, members of the same household can dine together in groups of up to five at restaurants, as long as they’re fully vaccinated.

In order to ensure that all diners are from the same house, though, F&B staff will need to check your NRIC or the Singpass app, as both show your residential address.

While some (like me) are willing to do anything to eat out in a large group, others are a little concerned about this method of verification, wondering if it could lead to some unwanted attention.

Netizens Worry That If Eateries Can Check Address, They Might Be Stalked

In fact, if you scroll through a recent Reddit post published yesterday (11 Nov), you’ll see that many residents are worried about this.

Titled “With F&B operators now allowed to check your NRIC for address… How do we ensure that where we stay is kept safe from strangers?”, the post has received over 200 comments in over a day.

The original poster gives the example of a celebrity or influencer eating out and having to give their address. “Just the thought of some creep knowing where my family stays is a concern to me and imo a breach of PDPA (Personal Data Protection Act)”, the OP said.

Netizens overwhelmingly agreed with this, with a few expounding on why it could be dangerous even if the diners aren’t famous.

“A lot are missing the point here. It is not about whether you are a celebrity or not. While it is true that most staff will never bother to remember your residential address, all it takes is one creep who fancies a girl to remember the girl’s address to start harassing her,” one commenter said.

Another netizen seemed more concerned about a widespread data breach:

“Rather than thinking celebrity/influencer etc, there’s a whole black market where u can sell this to data brokers. Matching identity to address is one of the most valuable datasets and memorising name to postal code is not difficult. Just need to do it consistently then can make quick buck selling these data,” they said.

On the other hand, some netizens wondered if it really was risky to give out their personal address considering how many diners an eatery gets every day.

“They have to inspect tens of thousands of ICs each day, and when you think about how they’re also going about their normal routines like serving or cooking, I doubt they will have the time or memory to remember each one of them. They’re more interested in covering their asses than concocting up schemes on how to make use of the info,” they said.

“Postmen also see people’s addresses all the time and sometimes deliver parcels personally, but you don’t hear stories about them abusing their privilege.”

Possible Solution 

One commenter offered a possible solution where restaurant staff can verify that all five diners in a group are from the same household without having to see their actual address:

“The Trace together app needs to show a hashed code for the canonical address,” they said.

If you don’t feel safe giving your address out, you can continue to eat in groups of two, or get used to eating lukewarm prata and melted ice kachang at home, at least until the gahmen addresses this concern.

The only group exempt from this requirement is children under 12, as they will be allowed entry based on a “declaration” of their place of residence.

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Featured Image: kandl stock / Shutterstock.com