Does Benihana provide guest and employee data to third parties, and if so, for what purpose?
Benihana Franchise · 2024 FDDAnswer from 2024 FDD Document
Our third-party providers' information technology systems and databases are likewise subject to such risks. We provide some guest and employee data, as well as confidential information important to our business, to third parties to conduct our business. Individuals performing work for us and these third parties also may access some of this data, including on personally owned digital devices. To the extent we, a third party or such an individual were to experience a breach of our or their information technology systems that results in the unauthorized access, theft, use, destruction or other compromises of customers' or employees' data or confidential information stored in or transmitted through such systems, it could result in a material loss of revenues from the potential adverse impact to our reputation and brand, a decrease in our ability to retain customers or attract new ones, the imposition of potentially significant costs (including loss of data or payment for recovery of data), loss of business, disruption to our supply chain, business and plans. Unauthorized access, theft, use, destruction or other compromises are becoming increasingly sophisticated and may occur through a variety of methods, including attacks using malicious code, vulnerabilities in software, hardware or other infrastructure (including systems used by our supply chain), system misconfigurations, phishing or social engineering. The rapid evolution and increased adoption of artificial intelligence technologies may intensify our cybersecurity risks. Our logging capabilities, or the logging capabilities of third parties, are not always complete or sufficiently granular, affecting our ability to fully understand the scope of security breaches.
Source: Item 22 — CONTRACTS (FDD pages 73–74)
What This Means (2024 FDD)
According to Benihana's 2024 Franchise Disclosure Document, Benihana does provide some guest and employee data, as well as confidential business information, to third parties in order to conduct its business. This includes providing data to third-party providers whose information technology systems and databases Benihana relies on. Individuals working for Benihana and these third parties may also access this data, potentially on personally owned digital devices.
As a result of this practice, Benihana acknowledges that its information technology systems and those of its third-party providers are subject to risks, such as unauthorized access, theft, use, destruction, or other compromises of customer or employee data, or confidential information.
Benihana also states that breaches in security could lead to a material loss of revenue due to damage to its reputation and brand, decreased customer retention and acquisition, significant costs related to data loss and recovery, business disruption, and supply chain issues. The company notes that unauthorized access attempts are becoming more sophisticated, using methods like malicious code, software vulnerabilities, system misconfigurations, and phishing.