Photo: Ministr-84/Shutterstock

Fast-Food Chains to Track Your License Plate to Customize Your Menus at Drive-Throughs

Restaurants + Bars News
by Eben Diskin Jul 23, 2019

If getting fast-food is a guilty pleasure you’d rather keep secret, you’re going to need to become very creative to keep your eating habits under wraps. Fast-food chains are considering installing cameras that recognize the license plates of customers so as to remember their order history and personalize digital menus.

The cameras would register and recognize customers’ license plates to tailor future menu offerings according to previous orders and supposedly speed up the ordering process. The system could also potentially link credit cards to license plates, so frequent customers wouldn’t even have to pull out their wallet to pay.

According to the License Plate Recognition (LPR) start-up 5thru, and as reported by the Financial Times, several drive-through chains in the US and Canada are currently testing out this technology, and they expect to soon sign official contracts. Starbucks tested a similar scheme in South Korea last year by having customers preregister their cars.

McDonald’s is already experimenting with similar technology, which would allow drivers to see tailored options on digital menus based on factors like the time of day and their selections.

There are, however, apprehensions about privacy violations surrounding the use of this new technology. Concerns regarding customer consent, as well as where and how long the data will be stored and who it will be shared with, remain hanging.

Discover Matador