So I'll tell this story in this manner.
If you go out in Germany now....in the Covid-19 era, and want a drink with several buddies.....you will cooperate with the local bar, and fill out this form as you sit at the table (either in the bar, or in the beer-garden).
The form will ask for your name, your friend's name, a e-mail, and street address. The waiter will come and mark down the day and time of your drinking session. In the event....a week down the line that the wait, or other guests around that time test 'positive' for Covid-19....the authorities come to pull out all the private data and force you into a testing situation.
Germans grumble about this, and hate the private data going out....but it's the only way that cities signed off on pubs, bars and restaurants re-opening.
So NDR (regional public TV in NW Germany) put up this story about this one particular bar (the Katzen Bar, translating over to the Cat Bar), up in the Schanzenviertel of Hamburg.
A couple of the employees came up with Covid-19. So the authorities came in and asked for the guest sheets, and tried to assemble a day or two of names. 600 guests total.
Well...some (around 200) are just plain incorrect on details or names. In some cases....'fantasy' name/details were left on the paper. It's reached the point where they've gone to public services and asked people to volunteer to admit they were customers....on those days.
This is the problem with this entire game of IDing yourself, with the bar assuming you will be honest, and people likely tiring of the private data game, and just giving fake names.
The odds of some state or city requiring your passport or ID to sit and drink, and the waiter filling out the paperwork? It would just make the current paperwork situation even worse. But as Covid-19 progresses, I would imagine this idea will be tossed around and openly discussed by politicians.
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