---
title: "Why QSR and Fast Casual Franchisors Need To Take Digital Security Seriously"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/56671d82-b28a-4e71-8400-9a5e4c0c32c4
source: "1851 Franchise"
original_url: https://1851franchise.com/why-qsr-and-fast-casual-franchisors-need-to-take-digital-security-seriously-2711283
category: "Fast casual"
industry: "Restaurants"
segment: "Fast casual"
topics: ["Technology"]
published: 2019-10-11T21:16:30.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T02:31:41.898Z
image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/5c0725eb392ff5c30400c6a8c2001f797469.jpg
---

# Why QSR and Fast Casual Franchisors Need To Take Digital Security Seriously

**TL;DR:** Franchisors in the QSR and fast casual segments need to take digital security seriously as consumers are growing concerned about data breaches, with 62% of restaurant customers concerned about a data breach. Many franchisors have begun adding new technologies, but these innovations create vulnerability to hackers.

*originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2019-10-11. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/why-qsr-and-fast-casual-franchisors-need-to-take-digital-security-seriously-2711283).*

## Key facts

- 62% of restaurant customers are concerned about data breaches
- 49% of consumers worry about lost information or account takeovers
- 64% of American adults have experienced data theft

## Story

**As consumer expectations for convenience and speed have increased significantly across the QSR and fast casual segments, many franchisors have begun adding new technologies to keep up, whether it be through** **self-ordering kiosks****,** **drone delivery** **or** **partnerships with third-party aggregators like GrubHub and UberEats****. Unfortunately, these quick innovations create vulnerability, and** **consumers are growing concerned, according to a new article on RestaurantDive.**

**According to a** **new study from Sift****, 62% of restaurant customers are concerned about a data breach. Top consumer worries include lost information, account takeovers and hijacked loyalty rewards points. The study also found that 49% of consumers are most concerned about their credit card data being stolen.**

**Customers have plenty of reason to be concerned. Earlier this month, third-party delivery company** **DoorDash confirmed it suffered a data breach** **that affected 4.9 million users.** **According to TechCrunch****, users had their name, email and delivery addresses, order history, phone numbers and passwords stolen.**

**According to TechRepublic****, 64% of American adults have experienced data theft and there have been more than 3,800 breaches in 2019. That is a 50% increase over the past four years.**

## Vulnerability to hackers

**Specifically, the foodservice space has proven to be vulnerable to hackers, especially as more and more** **QSR and fast casual restaurants become dependent on third-party services****. In the past few years, major players in the QSR segment, such as** **Wendy’s** **and** **Sonic****, have fallen prey to wide-scale data breaches.**

**While many franchisors may want to turn away from new technologies to avoid these threats, restaurant companies can actually be proactive against this rising threat through technological innovations such as** **automation, AI and machine learning****. Franchisors such as** **Jersey Mike’s are developing proprietary authentication systems** **that protect private data from hackers.**

## Proactive security measures

**Online ordering isn’t going away anytime soon****. Franchisors need to find ways to avoid data breaches or it could spell big trouble for business. According to the Sift study, over one-third of consumers reported they would abandon a QSR forever if they experienced any type of fraud.**

## Entities

- 1851 Franchise (publication)
- Restaurants (sector)
- fast casual (topic)
- Wendy's (company)
- DoorDash (company)
- qsr (topic)
- Uber Eats (company)
- Jersey Mike's (company)
- Restaurant Dive (publication)
- Grubhub (company)
- Sonic (company)
- data breaches (topic)

---
Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/why-qsr-and-fast-casual-franchisors-need-to-take-digital-security-seriously-2711283). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/56671d82-b28a-4e71-8400-9a5e4c0c32c4).